Green Thumb

At home, because I have a cat, I don't have many indoor plants at all.  So, at work I try and surround myself with as much greenery as I can.  These two philodendron were in water, growing roots, as I had cut them off other plants.  I finally got around to buying potting soil and potting them up.  I hope they take off.  They look pretty good so far!

New Recipe

Dinner last night was breakfast for me at work this morning!  I adapted a recipe I found online for a casserole with shredded potatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms, sausage, eggs and cheese.  It was pretty good!  Ev and I both had a serving last night, we each took some to work, and there is about one and a half servings left.  I had trimmed down the recipe and I think I got it just about right for the two of us.

Dark Skies

Some dark clouds were moving in when I was getting in my car at Wal Mart.  I headed over there to pick a few things up on my lunch break.

I wonder if this is the same storm system that is expected to hit Cleveland?  Tonight's game time was changed from 7pm to 6pm to hopefully get the game in before bad weather hit.

Last night's game did not end the way I would have liked.  The Indian's beat the Cubs in the first game of the World Series.  Let's hope tonight's game has a different outcome!

Cubs Are In The World Series

Can you believe those Cubbies!  I'm still in shock!  They need just four more wins and they will be World Champs.  Oh we are so hoping they make it.

Still crocheting dish cloths.  Here's the latest one.  It was in red, white, and blue yarn.

I met Marla in Fairview over the weekend and we did a little shopping and had lunch.  Had a real nice time.  I bought this yarn at Joann's while I was there.  The price on the cone of yarn was almost twice as much as my local Wal Mart wants for it, however they did have many more colors.  I guess they do that because they have those coupon sales all the time.

Boxing

Got a wild hair that I wanted to cover a box in fabric using that mod podge stuff.  Here's my first attempt.  I don't think it turned out too bad!

I made it using one of the fabrics that is the same as one of my pair of night pants.  I think it would have been easier if I had a working hot glue gun.  Going to Joann's, so I might just look for one there.  It's the right size to keep my current crochet projects in.

200,000!

My car's odometer turned over 200,000 miles yesterday!  I was on my way home from work on Old Route 66.  She's a good car and I think it was one of the best investments we ever made.  Still hoping to get a lot of use out of her yet.  We shall see!

In Reverse

And here it is in reversed colors!

Don't they just look cute together?

haha.  I have enough to make one more if I mix them up.

A Better Night

The Cubs won last night, so it was a better night all around!  I have been crocheting the dish cloths while watching the ball games, so I'm getting a nice little collection of them accumulated.  Here's the one I did last night:

Think I will make one in reverse colors, green with orange trim, next!

Dreary Day

Rainy and cool here today.  Part of my dreary mood is because the Cubs lost last night.  Sure hope they win tonight!

Made beef stroganoff in the crock pot last night.  It was good, but I like it made the traditional way better.

Bought another package of pecan sandie cookies to replace the ones Addy ate.  Going to hide these from her!  haha.

Picked up a couple skeins of cotton yarn at Wal Mart today.  I want to say they are Halloween colors.  What do you think?

I just might have to make a couple Halloween dish cloths!

Such A Fun Guy

Fun - guy, fungi, get it?  hahahaha.  This is growing on my Sweetgum tree in the front yard.  The fungi are growing on an area where a large branch was cut off a few years ago.

Hanna used to love sitting in the branches of that tree.  She would climb up there and read a book for hours.

Ramblings

Looking forward to watching the Cubs game tonight!  So excited to see them in the playoffs.  Hope they make it to the World Series!

Put the ingredients into the crock pot for beef stroganoff tonight.  Cut up cubes of beef, onions, fresh mushrooms, paprika, and beef broth are in the crock pot.  Will add sour cream when I get home and cook some noodles to go with it.

Last night was a bust.  First off, I was a little down about the car (not so much, because I know it was an accident, but I really do love my car so any bump or scrape is a bummer).  Then when I got home I spent time making cheeseburgers on the grill, only when it was time to eat, Ev swore the meat was bad!  So they went in the trash, along with the other half of the burger I had put in the freezer.  Who knows what that was all about.  I honestly could not taste or smell anything bad, but I took his word for it - when in doubt, I throw it out!

Without the burgers for dinner, I was scrambling to find something to make.  Asked Ev if he wanted sausage and eggs.  Response was less than enthusiastic.  Okay, what do you want?  He says how about grilled cheese?  Well, I used the last of the cheese on the burgers we just threw out, so that was not happening.  He suggested going out but I really did not feel like that at all.  At that point, I was kind of wallowing...  Then he says, how about pizza?  Okay, that I can handle.  Ordered a pizza and went to pick it up.

When we got back from picking up the pizza, we discovered that Addy helped herself to an almost full container of pecan sandie cookies!  Not only is that not good for her, but I was looking forward to a cookie with a cup of tea later, and, to tell you the truth, those cookies are not cheap!

So now yesterday is over and today is a new day...

Oops!

See that spot of rust?  Well, it used to be nicely covered with paint until my future daughter in law side swiped my car over the weekend!  I'm not real upset or anything.  Accidents happen.  The door has a bit of a dent in it, too, but it works just fine.

I took the car over to the local body shop and asked about getting some bondo put over that area and paint.  Since the surface rust is all underneath the pain along that edge (which I was aware of), they said bondo really would only last less than a year and not be worth it.

So they sprayed a bit of rust inhibitting paint on it and we called it good.  Sigh.

I See The Moon

Hard to tell in this slightly blurry picture, but this was a beautiful moon Saturday night.  Ev had to work during the day, but when he was done with work we ended up going to the matinee.  When we got out of the theater, the moon was just starting to come up.  It really was very pretty and bright.

We saw The Magnificent Seven.  It was a great movie, especially if you like Westerns, which we do.  Kinda gorey, but that was to be expected.

After the matinee we hurried home to watch the Cubs game.  Saturday night they beat the Dodgers, but Sunday they lost.  Now they go to L.A. for the next few games.

Double The Fun

I finished two more dishcloths over the weekend.  Most of the crocheting was done during the baseball games.  See the cone of yarn?  I was too lazy to go upstairs and get a different color of yarn, hence the two in the same color.  And a third in that color has been started, also.  hee hee.

And see the pencil case with the scissors and hooks?  I spent a LOT of time looking for that case over the weekend.  Ramsacked the sewing room, even.  Finally found it and am really glad I did.  It has hooks that were my grandmother's in it.

One Down

I finished quilting the first nursing home top and put the second top on the frame.  I am using the same backing, so I didn't have to load it, which saved some time.

Ignoring the little bit of pink at the top of the picture (that was the first top), I am trying to decide which thread to use.  Leaning towards the lighter cone at the top, but something in my brain tells me that I had trouble with that thread on Gemma before.  I guess if I have trouble, I just switch threads and keep going.

Just A Simple Stitch

That afghan stitch is so easy once you get the hang of it!  And it makes up into a nice compact stitch.  I now have visions of crocheting afghans using it...  Oh my, there are just not enough hours in the day....

Here's the blue dish cloth I made last night:

I thought maybe I would do long panels of it and then whip stitch them together.  Or make a square baby blanket.  Or maybe I will just sit back and admire the one dish cloth I have made so far....  haha

Afghan Crochet Stitch

 I decided to do a little bit of crocheting again.  Thought I might crochet a few dish cloths for Christmas gifts.  I had tried knitting them a few years ago, and they turned out nice, it's just that I know how to crochet and do it much better than I knit, so this time I'm going with what I know best.

That said, I thought I might use a new stitch...  haha.  No worries, it was easy to learn.  I'm doing the afghan stitch, which seems to me like a cross between knitting and crocheting.  Anyway, here is what the front of the work looks like:

I like it so far.  And here is what the back of the work looks like:

Not super thrilled with the way the back looks, but I can live with it.

Addy Likes To Snack

While watching the ballgame, Ev finished up a bag of Doritos.  He left the bag where Addy could get it, and before we knew it, this was what she was doing!

She had her whole snout in that bag, trying to get every last crumb out of it.  Now I would not have allowed her to have the bag if we were not right there with her, because I know that dogs can get asphyxiated (yeah, who knows if I spelled that right or not) with their heads in a bag.  But we were right there, paying attention to her the whole time.  She licked the inside of the bag clean, then proceeded to tear the bag to shreds.

And if that wasn't enough, she then decided to have a little Pepsi to wash it down!

Oh That Dog!  sigh

Out Walking

It is a beautiful Fall day here today.  I took a walk on my lunch break, just around the neighborhood where my office is located.  This tree has a lot of green leaves left on it, but I suspect in a week it will be close to bare.

A lot of the trees are losing their leaves already.  Not too much color this year, so far.

Second And Third Pass

You are probably going to get sick of seeing this quilt.  Over the weekend I worked on it some more.  This was after the second pass on the longarm.  And this one was after the third:

I have three of the five rows done and rolled the quilt forward so I'm ready to start sewing on the fourth row.

If you remember, I loaded a double length of backing here so that I could put a second nursing home quilt on right after this one is done.

All the tops this year are the same design.  Large squares of two different fabrics with sashing in between.  For this first quilt, I did big flowers in the blocks.  I am thinking about doing something geometric in the next one.

Hungry Hungry Hubby

Remember that game Hungry Hippo's?  Well, last night I had a Hungry Hubby!  I could not believe the amount of food that man put away.  From the time he got home, until the time he went to bed, he was eating.  Here's a recap of what he ate, that I am aware of!

half a container cheese puff balls
big plate of chicken stir fry
egg roll
banana split from Dairy Queen
leftover pizza

I honestly do not know where he put it.

Tomorrow he has to work until 3, so I am definitely going to be working on Gemma.

MQX

I'm considering attending one day of the Machine Quilting Expo in Springfield this year.  It's so close, distance wise, I think I would kick myself if I didn't at least go check it out.  Don't think I will take any classes this time, but I would like to see the quilts and go through the vendor mall.

It is coming up in a couple weeks.  Maybe if Ev has to work that Saturday, I will go then.  Don't really want to take a day off work right now.

Still really enjoying having Ev home in the evenings!  This is the third week of him being on day shift and last night we went to Tilley's, again, for pizza!  Three Wednesday night's in a row that man has eaten an entire pizza by himself!  Going to have to buy him some new clothes... haha

Stuff

Kind of been in a sewing slump lately.  I need to snap out of it because I really have a lot I want to get finished before the end of the year.  This happens every now and then, so I'm not worried.

Wish there was time before the holidays to get in a trip to Bloomington, but there really isn't any.  Thanksgiving is going to be here before you know it, then Christmas.  Sigh.

I do have a few Christmas gifts bought already.  Not much, but it is a start.  I want to get things bought early this year so it isn't so stressful.  Wish me luck!  haha

Local Ad

This cracked me up:

I wonder if it really works?

Can You See Them?

Camouflage material for the corn toss bags!  It isn't the heavy canvas of the other bags, and that concerns me, but they were requested in camo, so that's what they got.

Yesterday was my birthday, so Ev took me out to dinner.  First we stopped at Lowe's.  We needed to get a new ceiling jack for in the basement.  There was a really old one down there made of wood, and the bottom was all rotted, so we bought a new metal one.  I'm going to write on permenant marker on it "Tam's birthday present, 2016"! hahaha

Accessorize!

I specifically went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store to get a basket.  I came home with two baskets.  They are not very large, maybe 8" long.  I need something to put on the table next to my Kenmore.  When I use that machine, I don't have a waste can near it, and the table ends up with all kinds of thread pieces on it.  I thought I would line a small basket with cloth and use it to catch the threads.  Then when it was full, or when I think about it, I can just empty it into the trash can.

Yes, I could move the trash can or buy a new one.  This is just as easy.  Besides, if I had two trash cans, Addy would just think that was more choices for her to stick her nose into and get in trouble!

Morning Stuff

Hard to see, but this morning I threw the Paducah 2015 quilt in the dryer before I left for work.  I really like my washer and dryer set.  They are full size LG units that I have stacked.  Fish magnet was extra....  hahaha

And here is Miss Shadow Cat.  She is in one of her favorite spots in the basement.  This is her chair and it is right next to the food bowl.  That cat lives the life of leisure!

Getting To Quilt

Hard to see in this pic, but I have teh first row almost completely quilted.  Bobbin thread broke when I was finishing up the last blue block.  I was getting ready to leave with the hubby to go to Wal Mart and decided to just wait until next time to finish up.

The design in the patterned blocks is the same as in the blue blocks.  It doesn't show up very well in that pink thread.

I thought just a simple flower was a good choice for this top.

The little bees in the sashing fabric inspired me to do squiggles that look like a bee's flight pattern!  I tried not to cross over any bees (no bees were harmed in this quilt... lol).

The little heart in the corner of the blocks was kind of an afterthought.  There seemed to be too much empty space in the corners.  The hearts are sloppy on purpose.

In the outer border I drew a wavy line with chalk.  Then I made lower case cursive letter L's and E's on either side of the wavy line.

I am pleased with how this is turning out.