New Year's Eve

2009 is winding down fast. Darling Hubby and I went out for supper but were home by 8pm. Not much of party animals. Going to bed soon. We are leaving to go visit family in the morning.

I did the Christmas mystery through clue 11. Clue 12 is the last clue. It's laying out the blocks and sewing the rows and borders together. That may just have to wait until Sunday or Monday.

My strange thought/reflection for today came to me as we were driving home from supper. We went to a restaurant about half an hour away and the drive there takes us through some rural areas and small towns. As we were passing through some areas, it occurred to me that there are just some houses that look lonely. I know there is a word for giving inanimate objects human characteristics, but I can't remember it. Anyway, we would pass a house along the way that just seemed to be in the middle of no where and I thought to myself, "that house looks lonely". Like it was playing hide and seek with it's brothers and sisters and got lost. Okay, so maybe I'm weird...

Tonight is a 'blue moon'. By definition, that is the second full moon in a month. It's pretty rare, and for it to happen on New Year's Eve is rarer. The next time it happens on New Year's Eve will be in 19 years.

Gift card was burning a hole in my pocket...

So I went to JoAnn's today and spent the gift card my sister gave me for Christmas. And then some, but not much... honest! I picked up material to make a lap size quilt for the upcoming New Year's Eve Mystery. I know right now that I won't get to start the quilt on New Year's Eve (tomorrow) but I can download the clues, just like I did for the Christmas Mystery and make it soon. I picked out fabrics suitable for a young boy, so I'm planning to give this to Darling Daughter's b.f.'s 2 year old son.

I also picked up half a yard of some material that was already quilted. I took it right up to the sewing room and made a walker bag for my grandmother. I'll post a picture of it soon. I made two pockets on the inside of it and put ties along the top and at the bottom corners to attach it to the walker.

Tonight I'm making a meat loaf for supper. The house is smelling pretty good about now...yum!

I went back upstairs last night after posting on the blog and did two more clues on the Christmas Mystery. Now I have to press pieces before continuing...ugh. I just have this aversion to the iron... Will probably go do some more sewing before the night is over unless my friend Lori comes over to play some games.

Seems lately I have been posting things I want to get off my chest. Here goes another rant (or whatever you want to call it!). I know it is wrong to feel jealous of others and what they have, and I would not change my life for anything. There are times, though, that I feel things are a little lopsided. I read a lot of blogs and are on a couple of chat groups and sometimes people post on there how they have just begun quilting and have these fabulous set ups, machines, frame quilters, rooms, etc. to quilt with/in. Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge people their nice things. I just needed to vent. I have made choices in my life that have led to what I have or don't have materially, and I am happy with those choices and would not change them for anything. I do not know the circumstances that others live with who have the nice things. They may have health problems, marital or family problems, or any number of issues to deal with that I am so very very fortunate not to have. So now that I have ranted, vented, and whined, I feel better and will vow to look at things in a different light and not covet my neighbor's goods. I have what I need. I'm blessed with an amazing talent and thank God for it. I am blessed with a fantastic family that loves and supports me. I know this in my heart and will try my best to let go of any petty jealousy I may have.

Working on mysteries without any clues...

Okay, so maybe I have clues, but that old Bob Seger tune popped into my head when I was putting in the title for today's blog post. I have completed step 5 of the mystery. I've also been sewing the waste triangles together as I put the units of the mystery together. I'm getting a nice little collection of them and I'm thinking they may come in handy along the border or on the backside of the quilt. The more I work with the little rosebud material, the more I fall in love with it.

I'm making homemade chicken strips tonight for dinner. The coating on them, after dipping in butter, is bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. I just put them on a cookie sheet and in the oven. I also am making some egg noodles with a chicken gravy for a sauce, and a fresh salad. Nothing fancy, but a decent meal for Dear Hubby when he gets home.

It's pretty cold outside tonight. We are supposed to get some snow this evening and tomorrow morning. The track record of our local weather people is pretty lousy, so I'll believe it when I see it.

I have to bring up something that has been on my mind recently. I am feeling quite a closeness with my mother these days. We seem to be sandwiched in between difficult generations. She is dealing with her mother, still adjusting to having her living there with her and all that goes with it. I am adjusting to my Darling Daughter having moved out and all the things that go with that situation. It's nice to have my mom to talk to. I'm really lucky, and I know it.

Began sewing on mystery

Here's a picture of my fabrics for the Raising Cane mystery. I have made it through clue 3 and will be starting clue 4 in the morning. The tan fabric has tiny rosebuds on it and it is the fabric most used in the mystery. I've had this fabric in my stash a long time and really like it, so I'm thinking I'll keep this quilt for myself. The green material was actually a sheet that I had bought to make waterbed sheets with but then cut them wrong and they didn't fit, so the sheets went into my stash.

I had my dad, stepmother, and sister over this evening. I made a big pot of chili and had lunchmeat for sandwiches. We had a nice supper. I wanted Dad to see my village because he has a collection of houses also. He commented that I pretty much have the one room dedicated to the village. It's true! They also had not seen our Christmas tree and I wanted them to see it also.

Today is Darling Son's birthday. We didn't really get him anything yet (no $$ til payday!) but I think at 19 he understands it's coming, just has to be patient. He had to work tonight.

Darling Daughter called this evening. Her b.f. got called back to work this evening and I think she was lonely.

I had to laugh out loud today when reading another quilter's blog. She mentioned her son was home from college for the holiday and that his room was right next to her sewing room. He was spending time in his room practicing his duck call and while she was glad he was home, she was pretty sure no ducks would be migrating into his room! It reminded me of when Darling Daughter was home and I wanted to sew but she would be upstairs in her room, right next to my sewing room, and would have the stereo on or something like that. She actually warned Darling Son that he shouldn't move into that room because I would be waking him up with the sewing machine on weekends. Guess the irritation factor runs both ways...lol.

Finally did some sewing today

Today I made it upstairs and completed the Quilts for Kids top. Need to press it and then quilt it.

I also brought the fabrics downstairs to the kitchen for the Christmas Mystery "Raising Cane". Between sitting in my comfy chair with the heating blanket on and dozing and making hot wings for dinner, I would cut different pieces for the mystery and put them in separate ziplock bags and label them. I got all the fabrics cut out and ready to roll. There are 12 steps to the mystery and cutting was step 2, so I'm good to go. Don't have a printer hooked up at home at the present time, but I downloaded the clues to my computer and can look at them any time I need to.

Tomorrow is Darling Son's birthday. It's hard to believe my youngest child will be 19. Wow. I am so blessed.

Darling Husband and I were having a heated discussion about insurance premiums this evening that was not pleasant. He left the room and our big black Labrador jumped up on my chair and tried to lick my face! I guess our little argument upset her! At any rate, we resolved things for the evening, but it just amazes me at how in tune to things our animals are.

Day after Christmas

Just got home from Darling Daughter's. Had a nice meal and a nice visit. We had ham, pea casserole, bbq venison, deviled eggs, macaroni salad, and desserts. Pretty good eats. Her b.f. had his son. The baby opened his gifts while we were there. He really liked the truck we got him. We all met more of his family today. They seem like a nice family.

I am bound and determined to do some sewing tomorrow! I want to get started on the one mystery quilt. Too tired to do anything tonight. Last night I was in bed at 9! Probably be going to bed about the same time tonight.

We are getting a dusting of snow. Not much of an accumulation but it's really pretty.

Mom said they had a nice Christmas. I'm so glad Gram is with them and was able to have a family Christmas again. It's been so very long since she has had that, really. Oh, she came to my house for the holiday when Mom would come down, but she hasn't been living in a household where there is a Christmas tree and decorations and just a general good feeling all around for days leading up to and after the holiday.

Beautiful Christmas today

We had a very nice Christmas. Darling Son, Darling Daughter, her b.f., Darling Hubby and I all went to 9 a.m. Mass together. That was a wonderful start to the day. Our family is very blessed. We have our health, a place to live, food on the table and clothes on our backs. The kids have the opportunity to go to college and are taking it. We are truly blessed and I thank God for all good things in our lives.

The kids all liked their presents. Darling Hubby liked his new jacket and all his other presents. I got some very nice gifts. There will be three additions to the village: a small sweet shop, an old time police station, and a theater. I have a new sweater and a new pair of slacks. Darling Hubby gave me a cd with a song on it I really like. He also gave me an iced tea maker. We all received very nice gifts at my dad's also. My favorite there was a new digital camera. My all time favorite is this new lap top my mom gave me as an early present a couple weeks ago. I absolutely love both presents.

Christmas Eve

Last night wasn't very good late in the night, but things have leveled off. Darling Daughter and her b.f. had a tiff. Things are getting better, but still touchy. We all had a really nice dinner here tonight. I made a pork roast, gravy, mashed potatoes, dumplings, salad, green bean casserole, and rolls. Oh and sauerkraut! yum! Darling Son is still not eating meat, so his big thing was to have dumplings with kraut on them. My little Bohemian...:)

We have a beautiful tree this year and the presents under it make it look so homey. Tomorrow morning we are all going to 9 a.m. Mass then will come home and open presents. Then at noon we will go over to my dad's house and have Christmas there.

My house smells like peanut butter cookies

Yum. I finally baked the cookie dough I made the other day for the peanut butter cookies. I would still like to make a batch of chocolate chip and sugar cookies, but at least I've made a few batches of cookies.

Did a little bit of sewing this morning before work. I added some rick rack to the kids' bags as ties. Any other time I have spools of ribbon floating around the house, but wouldn't you know when I want some ribbon I can't find any? So I did find a card of rick rack that is probably older than both my kids combined. Had just enough to make the ties for four bags.

I also put half of the inner border on the charity quilt this morning. I wish I had finished it before Christmas and had sent it off, but it's getting there.

Still have a couple gifts to get. Planning on getting up with the chickens and going to Wal Mart in the morning before the crowds hit. I stopped at Rural King on my way home tonight and got a couple little things. Still need to get on the wrapping!

One more work day to go!

One more day of work and I'm on vacation for 12 days! Tomorrow we are having a carry in at work for our Christmas party. I am bringing saucy potatoes that you make in the crock pot. Put them together tonight so all I have to do tomorrow is turn on the crock pot.

Last night I went upstairs for about an hour and pulled out some Christmas fabrics for the kids' bags. I also pulled out fabrics for the Christmas Mystery online. This morning I made the bags before work, except for the ties. I need to get some ribbon for the ties or make ties from material.

My friend Lori stopped by tonight for a cup of tea. We just sat around for about an hour and talked. It's nice to have a friend that can come over anytime at all and just visit. Lori is the one I made the apron for out of the funky fabric.

Darling Son is not too confident about his grades this first semester of college. They are not posted yet, but I'm bracing myself for the worst. Ugh. Apparently I'm not alone as two of my friends, mother's of college students, got the same news last night also.

Darling Daughter stopped at the house for a few minutes today. I came home from work at lunch time to visit with her for that short period of time. She is going to make her daddy some cookies for Christmas and her brother some brownies. I told her she could come get the ingredients from here to make them and she took me up on my offer.

I was on the treadmill for 20 minutes tonight. Just got a monster cramp in my calf muscle. See what I get for exercising? Ugh!

Monday night

Did a little sewing this morning on the charity quilt for kids. Just 15 minutes before work but it was something at least.

Wrapped a few more presents. I have to pick a few things up yet at the store but not much. And I have to make the kids their bags yet. Maybe I'll go upstairs and dig out the Christmas fabric and get those done. If not tonight, then in the morning. I'm just so worn out on Monday nights, I have no energy. I didn't even bake the peanut butter cookies tonight. Oh well, the dough will wait one more day...

I got on the treadmill for 22 minutes tonight after work. Of course when I got off I ate pizza so that negates the treadmill, but at least I got on.

Sunday drive

Darling Hubby and I took a drive tonight to look at Christmas lights on houses in town. It seems that not as many people have lights out this year as in years past. We don't have lights on the house, but we do have them all around the fence. Darling Hubby isn't quite as keen on getting up on the roof to put the lights along the ridgeline.

I did some baking today. I made oatmeal raisin cookies, put the dough together for peanut butter cookies tomorrow, and made rum balls. I also made hot wings for dinner with broccoli cheese rice casserole.

Didn't get any sewing done this weekend like I wanted too. Got some presents wrapped last night. Still have a lot to wrap, just going to do them a bit at a time each night.

Darling Daughter got home from Florida okay. I think they got in about 3 a.m.

Light snow

We had a light dusting of snow overnight. It makes the streets and yard look pretty. There's not enough to even call it an accumulation. I'd like about a foot more, please!

Last night I was sitting in the big chair all covered up with the electric blanket when my husband came home from work. Now, my Darling Hubby is a very thin man, not for lack of trying to gain weight, it's just the way he's made. He see's me sitting with the blanket on and acts like he's freezing, which he probably is because the house is not too warm and he has no meat on his bones. So I gave up the heating blanket and let him have it. I should have bought another one when I got this one at Wal Mart on black Friday. It's a twin size one and I picked it up for $18, which is pretty cheap. Maybe I'll get him his own for a Christmas present, although I thought I had all his presents bought. I need to take stock of all the gifts I have ready and what I still need.

What I really need is some motivation to go sew! Been playing on the computer too much! ha ha. I wish I could sit in my comfy big chair in the front room with the electric blanket on and sew on my machine, but I don't think that would work...

I don't really have any plans for today outside the house. Probably go to the grocery store at some point, but that's about it. Not planning on doing any other shopping unless someone else wants me to go with them. Kind of waiting until it's closer to payday on Thursday, Christmas Eve. But that all could change, of course.

A week before Christmas

Wow, am I ever glad this week is over! Everyone I talk to felt like this was one long week. I guess it's because it's the week before the holiday. I did go up into the sewing room and look at those log cabin blocks. There were only about 7 of them, so not enough for a tree skirt. And I just don't know if I want to use them for stockings of now.

Went over to my friend's house after work and played a few board games. She loves that game Rummycube. We played a couple games of it and one game of Othello. I hadn't played Othello for a long time. Didn't stay very long.

Didn't cook dinner tonight. Had pizza over at my friend's and brought a sub sandwich home for Darling Hubby. Last night I made some meatballs to put in a jarred sauce. Well, I just put the meatballs on a plate and pushed it back to back of the counter. Then I pretty much fell asleep on the couch in the front room. In a half state of sleep I heard Wrigley go in to the kitchen. I would hear her nails clicking on the floor, then stop, then she would come back into the front room. She did this a couple times, then I remembered the meatballs. I got up and looked at the plate and there is this neat half circle of meatballs missing from the front portion of the plate! I guess Wrigley thought I made her a plate of hor douvres. And no, I don't know how to spell that word! Got lucky that she didn't get sick from them. That dog is walking garbage disposal!

Darling Daughter is still in Florida. I had lunch with her bf's mother today. She is a nice woman. Darling Son is still cat sitting for them. He's enjoying the freedom, I think.

Thursday Evening

Here's a picture of part of my Christmas village. This one is set up on a 6' folding table. There are houses on a shelf, on top of the piano, and on a card table in other parts of the room. Tonight I put up the Nativity scene on the cedar chest. Been decorating the tree throughout the week. I can't do it all at once because I break out from the needles.

Darling Daughter sent a picture from Florida. Her and her bf got down there this morning. The picture was of them driving his truck along the beach. I think they are having a great time. Her finals are over and she needed a break.

Darling Son is cat sitting for them. I think he's enjoying his little vacation away from home too! So I'm here all alone at night, with the exception of the dogs and cat. I don't have a lot of energy to do much sewing right now. Finishing Double Delight kind of zapped me, I guess. Mom got it today at work. She opened the package and laid the quilt over a chair in her office. She had a lot of people come by to see it and they were very kind with their compliments. That made me feel really good.

Mom also mentioned that one of the attorney's she works for, a fairly young woman, asked if I would be interested in putting together a quilt from blocks her mother, now deceased, had embroidered. I told her I'll take a look at them. I'll probably take the job. Mom says she thinks the blocks mean alot to the gal.

I walked 20 minutes on the treadmill today. I need to keep it up. It's just not something I enjoy, I know that!

I am very glad tomorrow is Friday. This week has been very long at work. I think I'm just ready for the holidays to get started.

I've been thinking of the mini log cabin blocks that I have from a swap a while ago. I have a couple ideas for them. One is a possible tree skirt for under the Christmas tree, but I don't think there are enough to make one of any decent size. The other is to make some quilted stockings from them. I don't even remember how many blocks I have. May go dig those up before the night is over or in the morning.

Wednesday of a long week...

As promised, here are pictures of the finished Double Delight quilt. This was a mystery on quiltville.com at the beginning of 2009. I loved doing the mystery and really liked the way the quilt came together. The photo doesn't do the colors justice. The reds really are more vibrant. The label says "Sarah, Friends Forever. Love, J."

Today was a long day at work, but they all seem to be that anymore. I'm really ready for some days off over the holidays. Tonight I'm going to bake a couple of apple pies and take one to my uncle tomorrow. They won't get done until later and I won't have a car after 6 tonight, so he will just have to wait one more day... He has a freezer full of peeled and sliced apples from his tree this Fall. I think he's dreaming of pies! hee hee.

Darling Hubby put the lights on the tree today before he left for work. I'm planning on putting the decorations on it tonight and also getting the Nativity Scene set up.

Tuesday evening ramblings

Darling Daughter stopped by for a few minutes tonight. Her and her bf are leaving for Florida tomorrow evening and Darling Son is going to feed the cat for them. I was glad to see her. Really been missing her lately.

Didn't do any sewing tonight. Need to get going on a couple things before the holidays. Just too tired tonight.

Getting close to Christmas

It's almost Christmas! I just have a few more gifts to buy then I'm all set. Going to do my baking the week between Christmas and New Year's so I can take goodies to Mom's for the holiday.

I finally finished the Double Delight quilt. Mailed it to Mom for her to give to her friend. I liked the way it turned out. I'll upload a picture of it soon. The total amount of time spent on the quilt was over 62 hours. 50 plus were spent piecing the top! The machine quilting was all done on the '27 Singer. I feel a lot better about my machine quilting abilities since doing this quilt. It really comes down to practice, practice, practice! The binding took a while to hand sew, but it's sewing I enjoy. And just so everyone knows, the duct tape marks came out....ugh... I was very pleased they came out but sure don't want it to happen again. I'm going to get some of that heavy plastic and cover my card table with it.

I will have to wait to cover the table until after Christmas. My village is all set up and the card table is in use! The village keeps growing and growing. I'll post some pics soon.

Been getting on the treadmill almost every day. I'm trying to do it as soon as I get home from work. I really have to push myself to do it.

Sure do miss Darling Daughter. She's been moved out for a couple weeks now. Darling Son feels like an only child...

Wednesday before Thanksgiving

Here's a picture of the fabrics I've decided to use on the upcoming mystery quilt from Quiltville.com. It's called 'Carolina Christmas Mystery'. Instructions say you can use scrappy reds, greens, golds and neutrals. I chose to not go the scrappy route this time. I wanted something soft and old fashioned looking. The instructions for the mystery start on Friday, but I won't be able to begin it until Saturday or Sunday, since we will not be home Friday. Quiltville is the site that the mystery top 'Double Delight' came from. That's the top I'm quilting right now. Almost done with it, too! That will be quite an accomplishment, as I have been using the 1927 Singer.

Really looking forward to going to Mom's for Thanksgiving. We have the food all planned out and we have our Friday shopping all planned out too! I've got a list of things I want to get from the stores that are having the mega sales. Probably get most of the kids' stuff done. Darling Hubby is done. Also have to think about the kids' birthdays, which are one right after another within days of Christmas. Why did I do that????? ha ha.

Sunday is the day Darling Daughter is moving out. Sigh. Some of the deals I want to capitalize on Friday are for stuff she can use at the house. Most of Darling Son's gifts will be electronic or music related.

Soup's On!

I've got two pots of soup cooking tonight. I have a pot of vegetable beef cooking on the stove and a pot of vegetable in the crock pot for Darling Son the vegetarian. The house smells pretty good.

I am getting real close to having the double delight top completely quilted. I'm not sure if it will be completely quilted by the time we leave on Thursday. Probably not, but that depends on what I get done tomorrow. I will go up in the morning before work and get a little bit done then. That 15 or 20 minutes in the morning actually helps with the progress. Once I have the grid finished, I have an idea for what to do in the quarter square triangles - I want to put radiating lines from the point of the triangle out to the borders. In the small border I'll just stitch in the ditch. The outer border is about 5" wide and I'm not quite sure what to do in it.

Gotta love Mondays...

Darling Daughter just called me at work. She hasn't really been doing much sewing, but she wants some pillows for the house her and her boyfriend are moving into. So she rummaged through my stash and found some material and was sewing along when she ran out of bobbin thread. She had never filled or changed a bobbin and called to ask me how to do it. I walked her through it, and she finished her pillow slips. It made me feel so good to be able to explain something like that to her. She actually values my opinion on this one thing, something that is rare between a 19 year old and her mother. Maybe it just feels rare to me, I don't know. At any rate, I'm glad she has a little interest in sewing. I think I'll get her a machine for Christmas or for her birthday in January. I was thinking of giving her one of the old machines I've picked up at yard sales, but if I want her to keep interested in sewing I don't want her to have to fight with it. Maybe, just maybe, someday she will get into quilting...

After Church on Sunday

This has been a stressful morning. I've been up since about 5:30 a.m. because Darling Hubby got sick and we had to deal with that. Then I was too wired to go back to sleep, of course, but didn't trust myself to do any machine quilting right afterwards. (I was a bit shaky...)

I finally did go do some machine quilting on the Double Delight top that I have had done for ages and ages (and promised Mom I'd have it finished by Christmas for her to give to a friend!). I thought I could get a few rows quilted before church. Well, I did, but not without glitches. Of course.

I had put a card table behind the old Singer to support the weight of the quilt. The card table is one I have been using to cut fabrics and has had a rotary cutting accident or two. I repaired these little imperfections with duct tape. Can you tell where this is going yet?

As I'm quilting along, I check the back of the quilt every so often to make sure there are no puckers. I flipped it over and what do I see? A two inch square of duct tape neatly quilted to the back of the quilt! Agh. I did some unsewing and removed the tape, then requilted the area. The problem is that there is some residue and it has stained the back. I think I'm going to continue quilting it then when it's finished I'll throw it in the washer with some spot remover and hope for the best.

In addition to wanting to get it done for Mom, I want to have it done before starting Bonnie's next mystery at the end of this week. We won't be home on the day it starts, because we will be out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday, but we'll be home the next day. I'm chomping at the bit to get into another mystery! I really enjoyed doing them last holiday season. Bonnie's was the most challenging, I have to say. It was also the most rewarding.

So the quilt is about halfway quilted now and I'm hoping to get back to it later today and get the bulk of it done. Maybe, just maybe, I can get it done before we go visit Mom on Thursday...no promises, though! There's always the USPS!

Darling Hubby and I are going down to St. Louis to Gram's house today. We need to pick a few things up from there to take to her, since she's living at Mom's now. We are stopping at JoAnn's to get some muslin for a friend of mine, but I don't think I'll do any shopping for me. Believe it or not, I'm just not in the mood right now. Got my mind on other things that I want to get finished. We also are going to lunch at Red Lobster, one of my favorite places. I have gift certificates left from my birthday and they will be enough for DH and I to have a really nice lunch.

Darling Son played in a band last night at a tavern in town. Now, I don't particularly care for my 18 year old hanging out in bars, but this is a pretty tame one, and his daddy was there to keep an eye on him, not that DS needed it or anything.

Darling Daughter is probably moving out in a few weeks. Her BF closed on his house a couple weeks ago and they have slowly been moving furniture and stuff into it. I'll miss her lots.

Wall Hanging Completed

Woo Hoo! A finish! Hee hee. I finished the wall hanging for Mom last night. Here's a picture of the quilting in the green areas. If you scroll down you can see the whole piece. I'm mailing it to her today. She knows it is close to being done, but doesn't know it will be on it's way. I named it 'Sunshine for Mom'. I put a label on the back, with that on it, but it was a little messy. I still need to perfect my label making!

The old Singer and I got along pretty good on that piece. The sticking point was that darn rayon thread. I told the old girl I would try to avoid using that thread in her again...My son think's I'm nuts talking to a sewing machine. ha ha.

I sent away for a kit from Downy for the Quilts for Kids project. I would like to whip that together then machine quilt it and send it off before starting to machine quilt the double delight top. I did cut some muslin for the back of double delight and throw it in the washer this morning before work. If it's nice tomorrow, since I have the day off for Veteran's Day, I am thinking of pin basting the quilt outside on the new tables I bought.

This weekend my friend and I are going to Arthur and Tuscola. We are going Friday night and spending the night in Mattoon. Arthur has the Amish settlement and Tuscola has the outlet mall. We are going to do some Christmas shopping. I'm looking forward to getting away for a short time.

Sunday Stitches

Yesterday Mom came down and we went to Gram's house. We did a lot of sorting through things, tossing a lot of stuff out, and generally getting things in some kind of order. There is still a LOT of work to do.

I worked on the wall hanging today after Mom left. In the green spaces I am making trailing lines with clover shapes on them. Still having some difficulty with the rayon thread, but will manage to finish the piece and then be done with it. I may even give the thread away once I'm done, just because of the difficulty I had using it.

While at Gram's we stopped at Joann Fabrics. I had purchased several things at a different store last week, one of them was a package of 60mm rotary cutting blades. When I got home, I found that they did not fit in the cutter I have. So, I wanted to return them because they were a bit pricey. I got that all taken care of. I guess I will need to order the blades my cutter uses from the internet. I love the cutter. It's a Martelli. I think I've talked about it before on the blog. It's ergonomically correct and very easy to use.

End of October

I have been busy working on Mom's wall hanging. I am feeling really good about the machine quilting I have done on it so far. The only fly in the ointment is that I decided to use a rayon thread and although I like the look of it, working with it is difficult. Maybe it's because I'm working on the industrial Singer machine, but it just keeps breaking on me. I'll go along for a while and then it just breaks, either the top or bobbin thread. Even when I try to hide the threads afterwards with a hand sewing needle, the thread still breaks. So I have learned my lesson...stick to cotton thread! haha. I do want to finish it with the other colors of rayon thread that I have, just to be consistent. I have used red thread to make hearts in the middle of some of the squares and to make flames in some of the other squares. I have some green that I want to use in the green background area. I'm thinking of making swirls of some sort to look like grass, or maybe just wavy lines. Then in the backgrounds of the focus squares I am thinking of a few stars going around connected with a swirly line. I'm also thinking of just using a wavy line with loop de loo's all over the double delight quilt top. That will be using cotton thread, for sure!

Mom is coming down this weekend to clear out some stuff from Gram's house. Gram has been in the nursing home for rehab for a week and will probably be there for another week then go back to live with Mom.

On my end, Darling Daughter is moving forward with moving out when her boyfriend closes on his house. I've got mixed emotions about that, for sure, but on the whole I don't think it's a bad thing.

Darling Son, on the other hand, has a bug up his butt about moving out also. His plans aren't as sensible. He was talking about moving out with a lowrider friend of his into a scummy apartment in the next town over. We had a go round and I said "if it's moving out of the house you want so bad, why don't you move out to the shed?". So guess what? The kid is cleaning out the shed and moving into it! Now before you have visions of a falling down tool shed, I will explain that our 'shed' is a very nice building, bigger than a college dorm room, well insulated and in great shape. It has electricity to it, but not water. I'm entertaining the idea of calling someone to see how much it would cost to get water out there, but not really too concerned about it. Darling Son can certainly still come into the house to shower and use the facilities!

It's another Monday. I'm trying to keep myself busy these days. Darling Daughter has a health issue, that at this time we pray is minor, and the odds are that it is, but for the next few weeks we are in limbo until she can have a test done to confirm that. If it weren't for the fact that I know she is stressing out over it, I wouldn't be real concerned at all. The issue itself doesn't warrant worrying about yet, in my book, but she is young and her anxiety level is up right now. So please take a moment and pray she is okay. Thanks.

Here's a picture of Darling Son wearing a shirt I made for my Darling Husband about 20 years ago! It was wear pink day at work for DS, for breast cancer awareness, and this was the only man's pink shirt in the house! He loves the shirt, so I think it might get some wear now that it has been rediscovered.

I'm also posting a picture of the wall hanging for Mom. It's not quilted yet, but it is pin basted and ready to go. I'm going to practice on the old Singer using that rayon thread before I start working on the piece.

The third picture is a simple top made of pastel squares I put together for a baby quilt. It's for a coworker who became a grandparent a week ago for the first time. I have the quilt top done and quilted, just have to label and bind it. I would like to get that done tonight if at all possible, but on Monday's, I'm lucky to get much done when I get home from work. Just plum wore out after that first day back at work!

I did machine quilt the pastel baby quilt on the old Singer, after much grief. I have discovered that if I try to run the machine at top speed, the stitch tension is off on the back of the piece. I attribute this to the fact that I don't move the piece as fast as I should and the stitches are extremely close together. When I have a lot more experience with free motion quilting on it, that issue may resolve itself. However, yesterday when I was having so much trouble, I actually said out loud to the machine that if it didn't work properly I was going to sell it....and I meant it (at the time)! Well, the next trial stitching I did worked out just fine, so who know's? ha ha.

Houston, we have heat!

Thank goodness our furnace problem was fixable and we didn't have to replace the whole thing! I never know, with old appliances (is a furnace considered an appliance???) if this is the last hurrah for them or now. Luckily, it was a pulley that worked itself loose and came off the motor. Not an expensive repair, thankfully.

I have been visiting a blog about free motion quilting. The blog has all kinds of very good ideas and has video demonstrations. I went upstairs and did a little playing around today with a couple of designs I have in mind for the wall hanging.

I didn't get to do as much quilting as I would have liked this weekend. Even today, after the furnace was fixed, I didn't get much done because I twisted my back something awful. I was at the store and bent down to pick up a big bag of kitty litter and twisted the wrong way. It really hurt. So far I've kept medicated with ibuprofen and have had two hot baths and have been sitting with a heating pad on my back. It's only 8p.m. but I'm seriously considering going to bed...Pitiful! agh.

Baby it's cold INSIDE...

Guess what? Our furnace went out this morning! Brrrrrr. Since it's Sunday, we can't get anyone out her today, and don't know if we will be able to get anyone out here tomorrow or not. So I'm doing a lot of baking hoping to keep the house a little warm at least.

This is a picture of the wall hanging I'm making for Mom. The top is done and I have it pin basted and ready to be machine quilted. Don't know if I will get to it today or not. Kinda disgusted about the furnace, so not in a good frame of mind.

Wednesday evening

Just a quick post. I've been going upstairs after watching the news in the evening and working for about an hour on the wall hanging. I have all the focus squares done. Now I need to cut and piece the sashing.

Now, Darling Son has informed me that he may be moving out also! Is there something in the water? Sigh. I don't think he will be going anywhere soon, and I know it has to happen eventually. Darling Daughter still has plans in the works but no date set yet.

I don't know what we will do in the winter for transportation for Darling Husband. He has ridden the motorcycle all summer long to work. I looked on the internet to see if I could find a cheap truck. He just needs something to get him from home to work, about 7/10ths of a mile one way! I'm thinking an old used truck would be perfect because there are so many times we need a truck to get brush hauled to the compost site.

I think I'm going to buy a couple of those folding 6' long tables in a couple weeks. That way I can baste my quilts in the basement or in the garage (or one of the kids' rooms if they move out...) instead of having to run to the church basement. My friend Donna likes this idea also because she doesn't have anywhere to baste her quilts too. Keeping that in mind, I am giving myself that amount of time to finish the wall hanging then when I have the tables I will baste the Double Delight and get to work on it.

Lazy Sunday

I finally got started on the wallhanging for Mom. I didn't realize how small it is going to be! I will post some pics soon. I don't have a lot finished on it, but I have made a good start.

Didn't do much more on the green shirtings quilt. I washed more muslin for the blank squares and have to make about 8 more 16 patch blocks, then can put the rows together. That project may go on the shelf for a while. I have to get the last borders on the double delight quilt. I promised it to Mom for her to give as a Christmas gift.

Picked up another used sewing machine at a garage sale. It was a steal at $3 and included a cabinet! I bought it just for the cabinet, which is in real good condition and my old faithful Kenmore fits into. It should make machine quilting a lot easier to have the machine recessed in a cabinet.

Darling Daughter may be moving out soon. I have mixed feelings about this. It just seems like time is moving so fast anymore.

Thursday afternoon musings

Well, Gram finally went to stay with Mom. Hopefully she will get with some good doctors up there and get some relief from her constant pain. It is a relief to all of us that she is no longer living alone.

I have been doing a little sewing again. Over the weekend I worked on a quilt I started a while ago. It's made out of green shirts I purchased at the local thrift shop. It's similar to the red shirtings quilt top I finished a while back. The shirtings are made into 16 patch blocks and those blocks alternate with muslin blocks. I'm making it the same size as the red shirtings quilt, with the thought in mind that someone may want to purchase both of them.

I have the fabric ready to be cut to start the wall hanging for Mom. Just haven't gotten to it yet. I have also been doing a lot of organizing in the sewing room. I have been purchasing three drawer carts with wheels on them and transferring my stash to them. The carts aren't cheap, so I can only buy one at a time, but I have made a dent in the clean up effort. I see progress and a light at the end of the tunnel, at least.

Dog Bones Quilt Finished!

It's finally finished! This is the dog bones quilt I started while in Golconda in April. It was made for a little boy named Ian who is the son of a friend of Mom's. Ian has Down's Syndrome. The label says "This quilt belongs to Ian". I hope he likes it!

Saturday dear hubby and I went to visit Gram. She isn't doing well at all. In fact, this morning she went into the hospital again for pain. She really really needs to go live with Mom.

I guess I will get geared up to quilt another baby quilt top. I'm thinking of the kitty cat pattern in pinwheels.

Monday update

Went on our visit Saturday. Gram is not doing well. Sure wish she would ease all our worries and go live with my mother. Had a nice visit with my uncle while there.

I have lost 6 pounds so far! Feeling pretty good about that.

Uncle B. bought darling son a very good guitar while we were down there. Darling son is in hog heaven.

Dear hubby is on vacation this week. He is going to visit his mother up north tomorrow and come home the next day.

Saturday

This has not been a very good week. I didn't get as much sewing done as I would have liked. We had to put down our 15 year old cat Friday morning. Still really can't talk about it without getting choked up.

I'm doing okay on my diet. Started last Friday and I have lost 3 pounds. I am trying to walk every day, which helps, I'm sure.

Just waiting for darling son to get out of the shower and we will be heading down to visit Gram and Uncle B.

Kids had a good week at college. I think they are both going to have a good semester.

Wednesday afternoon

Over the weekend I got a bee in my bonnet about finishing up the dog bones quilt. It's almost all quilted. I want to have it finished for Saturday if possible because my mother is coming down and she wants it to give to a coworker.

Mom is coming because Grandma is in the hospital, again, because of pain in her hip. My uncle is flying in from California, so we are all going down there to visit on Saturday. Hopefully the two of them can convince Gram to move in with Mom.

I didn't get the best report from the doctor last week, so I'm trying to lose weight...again. I did it before, so I know I can do it. Need to exercise too. That will help.

Did some sewing on my day off

Yesterday I had a day off work for a check up at the doctor. I managed to get a couple things done. I had bought some flat sheets that I wanted to try and turn into waterbed sheets. The first set I tried to do this with I cut them too short! The second set I managed to do right. Here's a picture of them all done and on the bed, and yes, I made the double nine patch quilt!

This time I didn't even cut the sheets. I sewed the pockets on one of them at all four corners. I just used muslin for them. Then I sewed the bottoms together between the pockets. They fit just fine. I used two full sized flat sheets. They were a little bit big, but nothing that would make any difference, once on the bed. And so much cheaper than buying waterbed sheets! The two flat sheets were $7 apiece and the muslin was from my stash.

I'm not a big one for buying used sheets, like at yard sales or thrift shops. That said, I came across a yard sale that had a lot of linens. They were barely used and not stained, so I purchased a couple of flat sheets. I'm going to use them to make another set after I wash them.

Another project I finished yesterday was the apron for my friend, Lori. School starts next week and she's a lunch lady. She was tickled pink to get a new apron to start the school year with! I got a cream puff out of the deal, since when I went over to take her the apron, she had just finished making cream puffs. MMMMM. Very good. Except one of the things the doctor told me was to lower my cholesterol and my blood sugar. ugh. Gotta work on that because I really don't want to go on more medication.

I also gave my friend, Diane, the new set of bags for the outdoor game. She liked them. With both the bags and the apron, I gave them to my friends in reuseable shopping bags and told them they could start going 'green' now that they have a reuseable bag!

My kids are going to be starting/going back to college next week. I cannot believe I have two children in college! It's almost like a dream. I'm so proud of them! Darling son went to pick up his books yesterday and darling daughter will be going in a couple days to do the same thing.

My brother is doing well after his surgery. He went to the doctor yesterday also and got a good report. He can't return to work until next monday because he has a pretty long commute and the doctor doesn't want him doing a lot of driving yet.

I should NOT go to garage sales....

This morning, on my way to work, I noticed a good sized yard/garage sale going on. Not having time to stop on my way in, I thought I would catch it on my lunch hour. Lo and behold, what did they have but a vintage Singer sewing machine. It's a 'Genie' model, which I know nothing about, but the gal at the sale said it works just fine. And since it was afternoon and they were trying to get rid of stuff, everything was half off! They were asking $20 in the morning, so since I waited until later, I got it for $10. I was thinking of purchasing some magazines online for about that price today, so I just postponed that purchase and bought the machine. I'm anxious to get it home and see how it works.

I managed to get the apron cut out for my friend, but it's not sewn together yet! I may have time to whip it together before she gets to my house tonight, but I'm not going to break my neck over it. She knows she will get it, eventually!

I went over to her house last night and played a few games of 'Sequence' with her and her daughter and daughter's friend. I really enjoy playing that game. I'm going to go visit my grandma in St. Louis tomorrow morning and I think I'll take the game and see if she wants to play a couple games of it.

Darling husband has been working a lot of overtime. The last couple nights he has worked until 3 a.m. and has to do so again tonight, as well as work 8 hours tomorrow (Saturday). The check will be nice, but he's about worn out!

Darling son is going to the City Museum tonight with a group of friends. Darling daughter is going on a float trip this weekend. She finally got a call from the assisted living facility and will be starting work next week!

Quick Post

Not going to post much tonight because it's Monday night and I'm just beat. Last night I got a call from my mother that my youngest brother is in the hospital with appendicitis and is going to have surgery! About 11:30 he was out of surgery and doing well, but it was a restless night anyway. I worked today so tonight I'm just going to crash early.

Going to try and get that apron done before Friday! That's when our girls' night is.

My feet hurt!

...because I worked at the chicken dinner at the church today. Here's a picture of my dad and brother (the two in hats, I don't know who's in the middle). They were dishing up noodle for one of the three serving lines at the dinner. I usually make mashed potatoes, along with a couple other gals. It's quite a production, this dinner. But it is a big success and the church benefits from it. By no means did I work the hardest there today. Even though I was back by the stove, I was in air conditioning. The chicken fryers were outside in excessive heat and the take out line servers was in the garage sweating it out.

I have been organizing my sewing room. I bought four of those three drawer wheeled carts and have transferred material into them. I'm slowly getting everything into uniform containers, instead of it all being in different shaped tubs. These drawers are clear, so I can see what I have, to some extent. I'm about halfway done organizing. I need to get about four or five more carts. They aren't cheap, so I can't just go buy them, but I can pick them up one at a time each paycheck.

My daughter has the room right next to my sewing room upstairs. She and I share a cable for the television in her room and my room. Well, she hasn't been able to get her television to work properly since she rearranged her room and asked me to look at it. In the mean time, the tv in the sewing room went fuzzy on me. I decided to start small...I thought I would change out the splitter where the cable comes up. I got zapped! There is a small current of electricity that runs through that cable wire, enough to zap me and make my hand sting. The splitter was bad, and once I replaced it, the tv in the sewing room worked fine. Her television, however, still is not working properly, so I thin it might be another part, but I just didn't have the energy to check it out today. Those rooms are not on the central air conditioning in the house and even though there is a window unit, it was unbearably hot up there. I will try replacing that other part another day.

Darling son is visiting my mother this weekend. He went with my brothers (not the one pictured) to a concert in Chicago. He took the train up there and is coming home tomorrow. I miss having him around!

Darling daughter is spending a lot of time with her boyfriend. He had his son this weekend and I was hoping they would bring him over to swim again. They had other plans, though. There's still a lot of summer left.

Darling hubby has worked overtime all last week and yesterday. He worked 12 hour days all week in this heat. Today is his only day off. He was just beat. This heat really drains a person.

Monday afternoon

Is this the most annoying fabric ever? Hee hee. I found this today and I think that's what I'm going to use to make my friend an apron for the school cafeteria! The kids will love it, especially the little kids, with all the bright colors!

My day is going okay today so far. Darling daughter is going to put a turkey breast in the oven for me around three, so that will be ready when I get home from work. I really want it to make sandwiches with. One of the restaurants in the area makes a grilled sandwich with turkey, grilled onions, and blue cheese. It's good at the restaurant, but I can actually make it better than they do because the restaurant uses lunchmeat pressed turkey breast. That's what's for dinner tonight.

I think I might be getting back in the groove with my sewing. I made those beanbags last night and just have to sew the edges shut on four of them. Tonight I'm going to try and work on that apron. These worked up really quickly, and even stitching the edges closed went surprisingly fast.

I found a different fabric to use on the wall hanging for my mother. I was not completely in love with one of the main fabrics of the background, so today I found a different one to use. It's not striped, which is what is recommended, but it has some wavy movement almost like flames, that will create the illusion of stripes. I want to start on that wall hanging as soon as I'm done with the aprons and beanbags. My friends and I get together in less than two weeks and I want to have them ready to give to them by then!

A productive Sunday

Today I did some sewing. I cut and sewed a set of eight bags for the bean bag game. I even filled four of them with the dry corn and closed them up. The other four are filled and pinned. Tomorrow night I should be able to finish them up. I have a brand new reusable shopping bag that I'm going to give them to my friend in. Gonna try and get her to 'go green'!

My other friend works in the kitchen at the school. She needs a couple new aprons, and has a pattern that she likes to make them with. I copied the pattern a few days ago and I'm going to make her a couple fun aprons. I think I'll get some whimsical kid fabrics to make them with.

Darling daughter is not home very much anymore. She spends a lot of time with her boyfriend. I barely see her. It's kind of got me down a little. I don't see much of darling son, either. He is always gone to one of his friends or to some music thingy. I know this is the normal progression of things. It's just a little bit of a downer. And top it off with my age, and maybe we are talking a little hormonal... Poor hubby....

Mom wants a wall hanging for her office. She says it's dark in there because she doesn't have a window and she needs something bright to make it happy. She found a pattern in a magazine she likes, so today I went and bought the fabrics for it. I pressed them and have them laid out upstairs in the sewing room. There is one piece of material that is questionable whether or not it will work with the design. At any rate, I can start without making a decision about that material. I need to do something to jump start my creativity. I have been in a funk for way too long!

Today darling hubby grilled some ribs. We had corn on the cob, twice baked potatoes, and a tomato and feta cheese salad to go with them. It was a really good dinner. He has to work 12 hour days all week this week.

I played hooky today!

I guess I should feel guilty because I just worked a week since being on vacation, but I took a day off today and feel pretty good! I actually did some sewing! Whooppee! But I made mistakes... Not too worried about it, though. I had purchased those flat sheets to make waterbed sheets and I measured wrong. They were too short when I put them on the bed! Oh well, they weren't expensive and I'll just try again. And the sheet material won't go to waste. I'll take the ends apart and use them on one of the other beds.

Darling hubby is working 12 hours today. He had to go in at 11 a.m., four hours earlier than usual. I sent him on his way with leftover stuffed peppers for his dinner break. Tonight we are having cabbage rolls for dinner. I have them baking in the oven right now. Usually put them in the crock pot, but changed it up a bit tonight. Think I'll make some fried zuchini patties for supper too.

I'm tossing around the idea of getting a group of friends together for a crafts and sewing day sometime. Since I don't know many who quilt, I thought it would be nice to include those who do other things, such as scrapbooking and other sewing. Not sure about the details yet, the idea is in infancy. It might be more of a cold weather idea.

Lazy days of Summer

Just a lazy summer day...that's when I took this picture of my darling husband. It was the last day of vacation and we were sitting on the front porch not really doing anything. We might have been waiting for the mailman. I was on the steps and he jumped up on the pillar like he was a little kid! Usually have chairs on the porch to sit on, but darling son had taken them camping.

I haven't been doing any sewing since coming back from camping. I do have some material that I need to cut and sew into bags for an outdoor game for my friend. Just have to motivate to do it now!

Week after vacation

I haven't been blogging for a little while. We were on vacation last week. It was a much needed vacation. Mostly it was darling hubby and I doing things. Darling daughter stayed home and darling son was off doing his thing. Guess it's not cool to hang with mom and dad. We went to our family campground again.

I took my sewing machine camping with me. I set it up on the deck outside our trailer on a card table and just sewed away! Loved every minute of it! I started a pink and white log cabin quilt. Don't have a lot done on it, but really enjoyed working on it. Here's a picture of my set up while camping.

Last night I took Wrigley out to the old lake just outside of town to let her run a bit. Here she is sitting for a minute. I think she wore herself out because as soon as we got home she went straight to my bed and went to sleep!

Finally sewing again

Finally broke out of my slump! Last week when I was in the thrift store, I came across about 4 yards of green and white checked material. The checks were about an inch in size and I thought it would look really nice as kitchen napkins. So Thursday night after work I brought my serger down to the kitchen. I just didn't want to sit upstairs in the sewing room for some reason (maybe because it's a mess?). I set up the serger and just mindlessly serged edges onto squares of fabric. It ended up making 14 napkins. I'm real tickled about them because most of the time, we don't have paper towels or I can't find a dishtowel, so they will come in handy.

Friday we had a cookout. I went to St. Louis to pick up my grandma, then brought her back to my house. My mom came about 3:30 and darling hubby grilled some burgers. They were delicious! We had beans, chips, and corn on the cob to go with them. Darling son had to work, but he did get to visit with his grandma's before work. Darling daughter and her boyfriend were there for a while, long enough to eat, then they were out running again. We had a nice visit. Mom and Gram stayed until about 9:30, then Mom took Gram back to StL and stayed with her until Sunday morning.

Saturday I did some sewing. Then I did some ripping. Then I did some sewing. Then I did some ripping. And again. Three times I tried to free motion quilt on the baby quilt with dog bones on it. Three times I was dissatisfied with the way the stitching came out and ripped it. I think I'm going to trace out on wax paper what stippling would look like and pin the paper to the quilt and stitch on it.

We have our family vacation coming up next week. I'm so ready. I feel burned out at work. This happens every year before we go on vacation, so it's normal for me, I guess.

This picture is of an American Flag stuck in a hay bale in a field near our house. I thought it was neat.

Turtle in the pond

What does it say about me, or maybe about my job, that I would rather go to a park and sit in my car in the heat instead of going back to my office a minute early from my lunch hour? Even though I could sit in the air conditioned break room at work? I really enjoy going to the park and sitting in the car, under a tree, parked as close to the pond as I can. I really wish I lived somewhere out in the woods, not in town. I need that open space to decompress. That is one of my dreams, to have a house in the woods with a pond.

This is a picture of a turtle in the water. You can hardly see him, but he's there. I also saw a snake in the water and quite a few carp trying to eat the leaves that had fallen on top of the water. They looked really funny, with their big mouths open and gaping at the air!

Three lonely yo-yo's

I did what I intended to do! I sewed a few yo-yo-'s last night. Here's a picture of my big accomplishment. Going to make myself to a few more tonight. I need to be doing something, anything, sewing related to get me out of this funk.

We just had bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches for supper last night with chips. Easy to do and didn't heat up the kitchen (I love microwave bacon...). Tonight we are having tacos and tomorrow I'm going to try a new crock pot recipe for 'Asian Beef'.

Tuesday night baseball

Okay, it's quarter to seven on Tuesday night. The kids aren't home, darling hubby is at work, and I've had dinner already. The Cubs are playing baseball and the game is on t.v. I am going to get out the container I have by the couch with my yo-yo's in it and make a couple yo-yo's. It's a small start, but it's something.

The heat index is 104 degrees. This weather is horrible. Give me snow. I worry about dear hubby working in the factory in this heat. He said his machine shut down three times last night because it overheated. If a machine running on 440 or 880 electricity shuts down because it's too hot, what about the person who is running it's body? I keep texting him at work to remember to drink lots of fluids.

Found a math error in my checkbook yesterday that has me upset, of course. I know it's only money but when a person doesn't have much of it, it's hard not to let it bother you. I think I have it all straightened out, but I'll be nervous about it until Friday when darling hubby's check is direct deposited. Thank God we have jobs to get paycheck's from!

Okay, I'm getting off the computer and I'm going to make at least 2 yo-yo's! Right now! :)

Ugh

I have really been in a sewing funk lately. I don't think I have been in the sewing room since the beginning of May. That's way too long. I know the graduation and party took up a lot of time. So did my grandmother's health. Now I'm blaming the excessive heat. My sewing room does not have air conditioning. I guess I'll get up there eventually and do some sewing. In the meantime all I seem to want to do is sleep. Maybe I'm depressed.

This is a picture of darling hubby and darling daughter. Darling hubby got this bike a while ago and is just crazy about it. It's pretty old and beat up, but he loves it.

Mid Week

I have been having a heck of a time lately. Looking back on my blog at this time last year, I realize I am going through some of the same things. One of which is a let down since my son's graduation.

There are other issues too. Darling son has had conversations with a gal he met over the internet who lives several states away. She just turned 16 and she and her mother flew here last weekend to meed darling son. Okay, maybe I'm old fashioned, but this seems odd to me. Now darling son is talking about flying out there to spend a weekend with her! I am not happy about any of this at all. I keep thinking if I can get him through the summer, things will level off when he starts college in the fall.

Darling daughter has been working at the assisted living facility a few towns away from home. She is trying to get into the one that is closer, in the same town I work in. I hope it happens. It would be so much easier. Right now she is getting over an eye infection, after a trip to the doctor and to the emergency room. She is going to be buying a new pair of glasses because her old ones (she wears contacts) were a weaker prescription. I feel bad because our insurance doesn't cover them right now and she has to pay for them out of pocket.

And of course, money is so tight for us right now, just as it is for everyone, I'm sure. Darling husband works afternoons and today the employer that he worked for six years ago called to see if he would come in and run a job for them in the morning before going to his regular job in the afternoons. He went, because we need the money, but I know he will be dog tired tonight.

I'm frustrated with my job right now. I have been at the same place for eight years and there is no where to move up. Being stagnant is getting really frustrating.

Still haven't started sewing again. I probably need that as therapy! Will get back in the groove when the time is right.

Been watering the tomato and pepper plants and the potted flowers on the deck and porch. It's satisfying to see them growing.

Peaceful Lake

This is a picture of the Old Lake, our town's water source. Isn't it beautiful? It is so peaceful there. Darling hubby and I took one of the dogs out there Sunday, just for a little exercize. The dog loved it, and so did we. This was where we had the graduation party.

It looks like we are going to get some storms tonight. It has been hot the last couple of days, in the 90's already. Maybe if it rains it will cool off.

I've had a lot of things on my mind lately and haven't been able to do much sewing. My darling son is having company this weekend that I do not approve of at all. My grandmother is still not doing well. Darling daughter is interviewing for a different job. Darling son has college registration in a couple days. Darling husband has been working on the pool (this is always a stressor for him, and by default a stressor for everyone!). So I have pretty much just been keeping myself sane by sinking into a good book. Sewing will happen soon, I have no doubts about that.

I did make my own upside down tomato plant holder. I drilled a hole in the bottom of a five gallon bucket, put a sponge over the hole with a slit in it, fed a tomato plant through and filled the bucket with dirt. Then I hung it on the T post of the clothesline. It is a cherry tomato plant, so the weight of the fruit shouldn't be too heavy. Hope it grows!

Tomato Plants

Another rainy day today. I don't mind it, though. Last night I planted five containers with tomato plants. I still have three more to plant. I'm going to do them tonight, if it's not raining. I picked up some more buckets (free from the bakery) and I think I'll put a few pepper plants in them. I would also like to plant some more flowers. I've kind of gone nuts with the planting this year. Guess I'm making up for the past couple years when I didn't do too much gardening.

Still haven't gotten any sewing done. It's been nice in the evenings so I've wanted to be outside. Darling son was very pleased when he saw all the signatures on his graduation quilt. I need to add a border with his name and the year of graduation on it, then get busy quilting it. That may wait until the Fall. I still have to get those baby quilts done and have committed to quilting the Double Delight for a gift my mother would like to give a friend.

We had rueben sandwiches for supper last night. Darling hubby requested them. I wasn't really in the mood for them, but they are quick and easy to make, so after I had them made for everyone else, I made myself a fried egg sandwich. I just had a taste for it. I have some farm fresh eggs that have a great flavor. There is such a big difference between store bought eggs and farm eggs.

My grandmother is not doing too well. I am going to go visit her tomorrow, I think. She is having hip and back pains.

Time for a fresh start

Time to regroup! The graduation and party are over. I can concentrate on other things now. We did have a great party for darling son. It was out at the old lake on the outskirts of town. A lot of people showed up and he received a lot of nice gifts. And no one went away hungry! We had lots of food. The fried chicken all went. There was about half a gallon bag of mostaccioli left and a few bags of bbq left. I purposefully made a lot of bbq so we wouldn't run out. I have plans for the leftovers and it freezes really well.

I have not sewn a stitch for weeks. I thought once the party was over Saturday that I would sew on Sunday and Monday, but it didn't happen. Sunday I was wiped out and hardly did anything except put things away from the party and get my house back in order. Plus we had overnight guests Saturday, so that set me back a bit. Monday my brother had a party for his college graduation. I could have sewn before and after that, but I just wasn't in the mood.
I really have to get back in the mood now. I'm sure all it will take will be sitting down at the machine to get excited about sewing again. I just have to motivate myself to take that first step!

Party getting closer

Just a couple more days til the graduation party. I have two roaster pans full of bbq in my fridge. Still need to make the mostaccioli. I will probably do that tomorrow night unless I feel ambitious and do it tonight.

Had a picture of some of the family at graduation that I thought I'd share. We had quite a group at the ceremony and not everyone could sit together. On the left side is a close friend of the family, then darling daughter, brother, stepdad, and brother.

I still have to make new bags for the yard game. They are sitting on the kitchen chair waiting to be replaced. I can use the same filling (corn) for the new ones.

I'm also looking forward to having two days off after the party, since it's a three day weekend. I plan to get some quilting done Sunday and Monday. I don't think I could do any quilting today or tomorrow anyway, my hand is so sore and a little swollen from cutting up all that meat for the bbq!

There is a mystery being posted on the one online group I follow. It looks pretty easy, but I just haven't had a chance to start it. I need to finish those baby quilts first. I don't really have a lot of baby fabric and I need to get a pastel type baby quilt made. Maybe I'll do that for the mystery...

Planting flowers

Last night I planted another pot of flowers for the deck outside. The first two pots were round, with a variety of plants in them. What I planted last night was a long rectangular box with just moss rose in it. That's one of my favorite summer flowers. My great grandmother had them in her flower beds. She also had snapdragons, which I think are neat. I put some of them in the assorted pots.

I also finished cooking the meat for the bbq last night. I have 60 pounds of meat waiting to be shredded and put into sauce. Going to make the sauce Wednesday night. That will be a project and a half. Then Friday night I'm planning to make the mostaccioli and sauce. This is going to be quite a party, if I have anything to say about it!

I also have to make sure we have a second set of the bean bags for the yard game we are taking out to the lake for the party. Last year one of the sets of bags had a couple bags get tears in them (I think the material was old). Anyway, I have to make another set, I think. They were pretty ease, just 7" squares sewn together. The game needs 8 bags total, 4 of one color and 4 of another color. I'm sure I can find some material to make them with!

Graduation is over, Party still to come!

He did it! My darling son graduated high school Saturday night. He was awarded two, count them, two scholarships! I am bursting at the seams about this. He also performed a guitar solo for the last time with the band during graduation that netted a huge round of applause. One of the scholarships was for band students and he and another band student shared the award. The other was for a descendant of a coal miner, which he is. Darling daughter was awarded this scholarship last year, so I was really really busting out over that one. I figure it was my great grandparents up there working things around! Neither scholarship is a lot, monetarily, but they mean a lot sentimentally. Have I mentioned how proud I am of him?

Needless to say, I haven't done much in the way of quilting. We had family here over the weekend. This week is going to be busy with preparations for the party this Saturday. I'm hoping after Saturday I can get back to business.

Day before graduation

Gearing up for a busy weekend. Did a little sewing last night. Put the last border on the pinwheel cat fabric quilt. Won't have much time to sew with graduation and company this weekend. I'm so ready for him to be out of high school! So is he!

Daisy Chains

I've got to get myself out of the afternoon slumps. Every day at work it seems a little bit after lunch I just want to crawl under my desk and take a nap. I'm sure I'm not eating the right foods, but even when I eat right I still don't want to be here! Oh, to be independently wealthy....hahahahahahahaha

This picture is of what I call clover. It's one of those pretty white flowers that grow in the Spring in everyone's yard around here - unless they put weed killer down. Personally, some plants people call weeds I find very pretty. Like the purple stuff that grows along the edges of fields and roads. And although Goldenrod makes me sneeze, I still think it looks pretty in the fields. I'm sure the farmer's don't share my opinion on that one!

When I was little we used to pick the white clover and tie the stems together, stem to flower, and make crowns and bracelets and necklaces.

We have had rain and storms off and on all day today. They started very early in the morning and are expected to continue until tomorrow morning. I made chicken and noodles last night for supper. It was yucky. I just couldn't seem to get the seasonings right. Tonight I'm making rueben sandwiches. I can't really mess them up!

Darling son had his senior class trip today. The rain probably put the kabosh on a couple things they could do, but where they were going had a lot of indoor activities, such as swimming, a rock climbing wall, volleyball, etc. I'm sure he will be beat when he gets home tonight. Darling daughter worked 6-2:30 and was stopping at the thrift shop on her way home to try and find some more shirts for work, to tide her over until she gets her first paycheck.

Darling husband is probably working 12 hours today, 3pm to 3am. That makes for a very long day. I'm going to drop off some lunch for him to have later in the evening. It might just be a couple bologna sandwiches, but it will be something extra for him to eat.

Spring is springing up!

I did a little bit of sewing last night. I finished all but the final border on the kitty cat and fish bones baby quilt. I also cut the final border, a 3 inch strip of alternating solids that are in the quilt. Tonight I think I will put the border on and maybe pin either that quilt or the dog and dog bones baby quilt. I have the backing all set for both, but have to make sure I have enough of the batting I want to use.

Here's a picture of darling daughter and her daddy. She had a great first day at her new job yesterday. She worked 9-5 but today had to get up and be in at 6 a.m.! She is working until 6! Nothing like a 12 hour day to start her off. Wow. I hope she can keep day hours, but not necessarily 12 hours days. It's a half hour drive for her to work and I really don't want her driving those country roads in the dark if she can avoid it!

We have a beautiful Spring day today. The sun is shining and the temp is perfect - not too hot, not too cold. We even have a little breeze blowing. I think we might get some storms tonight, though.

Last night the sloppy joe was pretty good for supper. Didn't make anything on the side with it. I was tired and ended up falling asleep about 8! I must really be a wimp... Tonight I have a chicken cooking in the crock pot with carrots, celery, and onions. When I get home from work I will pull the chicken off the bones, cook some noodles and thicken up a gravy to make chicken and noodles. That will be a pretty good supper.

Monday before High School Gradaution

Don't know if I am ready for this or not, but graduation is this Saturday night. Guess I really don't have any choice but to be ready because it's coming whether I'm ready or not! I'll probably blubber like an idiot - that's my baby, you know!

Here's a picture of darling son with proud Papa and Mama. We were at the city park taking pictures before he went to prom. He must of had a great time, he slept the entire next day! They go to post prom at the school and don't come home until six in the morning.

Didn't do more than half an hour of sewing over the weekend. As much as I wanted to get into the sewing room, I couldn't find time. Friday night I went out with my friends for pizza. Saturday was busy with prom, then in the evening we went to that birthday party for my nephew. Sunday I was just plain worn out!

Yesterday dear hubby made a fantastic pork loin on the grill, along with some Italian Sausages. We had twice baked potatoes, devilled eggs, and veggies to go with it. Dinner was very good. Tonight I'm making sloppy jo for supper. Gotta be something easy for Monday nights!