this and that on a Monday

Around the house---

Oscar has been in and out all day today, walked three times as of this writing (4:30 pm).  1st trip was before I went to the park to do my 2.2 miles.  We'll go again about 6 and then it is the backyard should he indicate he needs out.  Of course, we go through the usual "Time for bed, Oscar.  Get in your bed."  and he interprets this as "go outside and bark", LOL.  BUT he usually will hop right into his crate when he comes back in to settle in for the night.

Meanwhile, Skyler has been napping in the back of the house this afternoon, other side of the gate.  I was busy with laundry this afternoon and assumed he was either sitting in the sewing room window though he cannot see out OR on my bed or window perch.   I was wrong!  This is a new one on me.  He only used the perch to get UP on the armoire and the stack of pinned quilts (3 are mine and they've been waiting for some time!)

He only used the perch to get UP on the armoire and the stack of pinned quilts (3 are mine and they've been waiting for some time!  One is Aline's.  3 are donation quilts and the one that Skyler is parked on is a personal quilt.  I see I missed grabbing one of my t-shirts for the wash too.)

No sewing since last Belles' day.  The closest I came to doing anything quilt related was cutting the setting and corner triangles, oversized.  The butterfly fabric is kind of growing on me but then I look at this each time I pass the master bedroom.

Oh, I think about sewing but walking in the sewing room to do it isn't happening again.  I didn't even unpack the machine from last Tuesday.  Probably going to Tuesday sewing so that part is handy, LOL.

Today, I ordered some cone thread for a couple of the Belles along with some marked down 40% Connecting Threads fabric ($3.96 or something a yard) that will work for a background on another of GE Designs projects.   If the order is $50 or over, no shipping so we have combined orders before.

 I also finally got around to packing up the used rotaty cutter blades for both the Belles and me personally.   I so rarely turn on the desktop anymore unless I need to print.  Today I did so I could send a note with the checks and then ran it into the post office.  L.P. Sharp does an exchange thing where you send in a minimum of 5 used blades and they send you brand new Olfa blades in their place.  They have recently increased their pricing but slightly.  The girls know to turn in their old ones for me to collect when they got a new one from me, reimbursing the treasury.

So what have I been doing?  Well, Friday and Saturday it was high school Basketball mania around here!  My nephew Teddy is a senior at LeRoy (IL) high school and is on the basketball team with a group of kids he has played ball with since 2nd or 3rd grade.  The Panthers had finally gotten passed the regional round on the 3rd try, I think that's right.  They won the sectional---they won their super sectional last Tuesday which makes them part of the Elite Eight and on to State.  Class 1A, the smallest enrollment schools.  Friday, they won the semi-final game beating Liberty by 16 but trust me, the other team pulled within 4 at one point.  So on to the finals!  They beat a tough Chicago St. Leo team by 3 points---and that game was tied up late in the game, exchanging shots.  It took a 3 point shot and a last second missed shot for them to emerge as the 1st place team.  Exciting, nerve wracking to watch.  Teddy is in the last row next to the assistant coach in the blue shirt.  I was able to watch the games, post game interviews and read the articles off Facebook links along with enjoy pictures my brother and other parents took and posted.  I paced, I told Oscar he had 5 minutes to walk as it was half time but by golly, the kids made history,  not only with their team getting passed regionals but going to State and then winning the whole enchilada!  The football team had done well this school year also---some of the guys played football as well--I believe they made it to the semi's?  Teddy had an injury then so his season was cut short.  Here is one Phil took after the medal and trophy presentation.

Sunday after all that excitement I read,  finished up one half done book, read another one through and started on a third till Skyler came and sat on my chest/belly again and I gave up.  It is hard to read a real book or use the Kindle app on the tablet with a cat inches from your face.  Unfortunately, I did not get really get to sleep till 4 a.m. new time ( I hate changing the stinkin' clocks!  pick a time and leave it there---sheesh)  I don't know what my problem was but I hope it does not recur tonight.  I crashed and burned till 8:30.

Guess that's about it for this installment.  It is just been errands, walking and more walking with the dog,  haircut, two showers (the 2nd one to get those itty bitty scratchy hairs off me) and laundry today.   THX for stopping by-------

2 weeks gone by

How did that happen?  Two weeks just whizzed on by while I was busy here at home.  So what's been going on?

I got a bit of sewing done on a project for my niece.  There is a bit more to do this afternoon provided the sun stays out and Oscar can log a couple hours outside.

I am a great auntie again with the arrival of my oldest nephew and his lovely wife's precious little girl.  I do not have their approval to share any pictures and will respect their privacy.  Also not sure what information I can share other than she arrived safely.  My sister has been out to help with the baby this past week so my photo gallery is filling up!

Grandmother called me and we met up for me to deliver the 100 Good Wishes top on the 13th.  She loved what I had done with all those fabrics.  We will meet up sometime later this coming week to get the backing fabric so I can finish it up in some manner.

14th and 15th---House cleaning and grocery shopping to prepare for company.  Well, family really.

My sister Jan who lives in Colorado flew in to the ATL airport on the 16th and back out on the 20th.  Two trips to the Parking Spot 1 and shuttle in to the airport but solo this time for me.  How many times did DJ have to make that trip for me?  Jane and Hugh have filled in too.    We had a great time visiting and catching up though we had a lot of rain.  The threat of worse weather kept us from going up to Mt. Cheeha.  Jan is a hiker, runner, biker and there is a lot of opportunities for that in our area.   She was able to get me a number on how many feet Oscar and I go on our lane lap---0.36 so those 4 or 5 trips DO add up!  3 makes a mile, 5, 1.8?  She is training for a half marathon later this year so ran while I attempted to walk my laps in the park but it was entirely too wet with water standing and even a wide berth met with stepping in puddles.

While Jan was here on Friday, my brother Steve and wife Jan were down from their TN home on their way to a vacation on the coast.  Good to see them as well!  Jan and I had something prepared for lunch but we went out for supper near I-20 as they were staying overnight in Leeds, driving down to the rental propery the next day.  The hostess obliged us in taking a picture though I was being less than photogenic. ( Coughing, talking, etc--she looked right at me when she said she had to take another for a reason, LOL )

I've been down with a cold, bronchitis and/or allergies for two weeks now though I am much better now.   At least I seem to be sleeping a bit better and coughing less.  Finally!  Mostly it had left me achy and low energy for much of last week.  Talking made it worse and I was quite close to losing my voice as it was.  I just hope my friends and family members did not get sick because of me.

The friends met for Terri's birthday luncheon on the 15th at Zoe's on the Lake and again on Saturday the 18th at McAlister's Deli as they wanted to meet my sister.   Not much cooking going on lately, I'm afraid though I spent a chunk of yesterday morning looking at past NancyLand recipe archives.  There is hope!

I discovered that an old favorite that I used to watch on WE is available on Hulu--all 7 or 8 seasons.  Just a fluke search really and I found it-- McLeod's Daughters.  Based in South Australia.  Wikipedia says "McLeod's Daughters is an Australian television series that began airing on the Nine Network on 8 August 2001. This Logie awardwinning drama series follows the lives of half sisters Claire and Tess McLeod as they embark on a mission: to run Drovers Run, a farm that has been in the McLeod family for generations. After being passed down from father to son, Drover's has now reunited Claire and Tess after 20 years. They now have to run a farm while balancing their lives, loves and losses."  Oscar and I have been watching a few epi's in the evenings and I had it on the desktop when I was sewing a few days ago.  As it stopped airing on WE after a major plot point, I am thrilled to find I can see some shows I missed early on and move on past that part if I chose.

Of course, the Kindle app gets a workout, thanks to BookBub and OHFB 0ne hundred free books or deeply discounted ones.   I do mysteries mostly but some other things for variety.  Lately thougb I have been looking at the oldest to newesr of the downloads and some of those were downloaded a year ago.  Still, free is good!

I am dreaming about the next quilt I want to make---using Block Party by Sandy Gervais.  Split Decision, I think but I have figured out how to piece a bit differently than the jelly roll the pattern calls for.  I love this stuff and want to sew something fun once my obligations are done.

In chatting with my friend Norma yesterday it looks like we may be doing a stay at home, long distant retreat as I want to do another blue and white Disappearing 4 patch for the master bedroom.  I say another as I did make one back in July 2011 for a QOV and the guild's project to outfit each bed at the Col. Robert L. Howard Veteran's Home in Pell City.    Well, here it is.

 I really liked this quilt, gave it away and now it would go with the curtain and dust ruffle I made for that bed.   This one honored the service (Air Force) of my dad.  The next one would be in memory of my husband.  I've got the Cheese and Crackers in 30's repros on their now for spring/ summer and it looks okay, fits fine but this is something I want to do.

His birthday would be on Tuesday.   I pray this will be a bit easier to deal with than last year.  I still have figured out how you honor the day and what it meant to you without becoming an emotional mess.    Give in to it and move on the next day?  Still a hole in my heart.

THX for stopping by----Oscar needs to walk and I could use a leg stretch myself.

blogging break? yes but vacation too

Looks like I took about a two week blogging break but it was for a very good reason! You see my mother was coming up on a milestone birthday, a round numbered one---she is a Flag Day baby.   This past Sunday was Father's Day as well.   I was going to get to be there for both but shhhhhh it was a secret.  There had been a lot of phone calls back and forth between my two sisters and I over the last month. One minute my sister Janet who lives in near Denver, Colorado was thinking about driving down to Alabama to see me with our mother---"what did I think?"   A few hours later my other sister Diane was calling to ask what I had planned for the 13th of June to the 19th!  She was getting me a ticket and I would be Mom's birthday present.  The return date was pushed back a day to get an earlier flight back to Atlanta but I was going to see my family.

Of course, I could not say ANYTHING about that on my blog---Mom reads it.  Janet swore Dad to secrecy but she would need him to make some excuse to pick her up at the airport on the Monday evening (the 11th).  It was his turn to keep that birthday celebration a surprise!  All kinds of truth bending going on once the plans were made.  The thing is that Mom had been asking me to come up for about two months now and even offered to help with the gas money.  She had been given quite a bit of fabric from a friend who was making room for some family to move it and the scraps were mounting again.  

Unfortunately someone back in Colorado kind of spilled the beans and called my parent's home looking for Janet.  Dad had already left for the airport so he could not beat her to the phone.  My two youngest nieces were playing ball at the Lexington field so Mom went up to see them play but the whole time had her eyes peeled for Janet and Dad as well as my sister-in-law.  One daughter home!

Then came Wednesday the 13th.  I swore the Belles to secrecy---say nothing on Facebook about have a good trip!!!  DJ and I left for Hartsfield fairly early in the morning and by 1 p.m. I was in Bloomington (BMI)  Janet and Diane had concocted a story about meeting for lunch at Avanti's when really she was to pick me up.  I told them I didn't care what story they made up but I WAS going to have a Gondola---we took some back for our supper, LOL.  After running a couple errands, ordering a birthday cake at Sam's etc we went on up to my folks.  Janet pulled over about two blocks from their home just in case Mom was looking out the window---she would see only one driver and in I would walk.  Mom was napping by the time we got there.  Just about the time I was going to go to her room and ask if she was going to sleep the whole day away she entered the living room where Dad, Jan and I were visiting.  She was speechless and started crying.  2nd surprise for the week!

Janet had been knitting a baby blanket----remember that one that she had asked me to help figure out the pattern a few months back, shown HERE?   Somewhere along the line after viewing some of Mom's donation quilts she mentioned something about making a boy quilt just in case.  Well, you don't have to ask Mom and I twice!    That is a bit like waving a flag in front of a bull, LOL.  Janet sews and has made a few small pieces but she would need our guidance.  We were off digging in the fabric bins, shopping Elsie's Quilt Shop and once she settled on a focus fabric the other go-with's fell into place.  Janet cut it out and we had three machines going-- like Elsie's Sweat Shop---by 10 pm we had a Naptime top done minus borders. 

I thought I had a picture of the finished up all the way open but here is Jan quilting up her boy quilt a few days later.  I had gotten her started by threading up the machine, winding bobbins and doing/demo'ing a few lines but she did all the rest.  Mom and I had said we would finish up what she did not get done but a few hours before her flight left on Monday she was trimming it up.   I should also tell you that Jan and Mom had teamed up before I got there and had the bindings machine stitched down on 7 or 8 donation quilts.  She also had a pile of tops to pin,  We did those over the next few days including of course, Janet's quilt.  8 or 9 of them.

Thursday, her actual birthday was fairly low key.  My dad had a long planned meeting about a hour away so we girls took off for the Peace Meal site for lunch. I made a lemon icebox cake for her since she loves lemon desserts--no true birthday cake yet.  My mom used to be the site coordinator and Dad does the home delivered meals and helps fill in for the coordinator so they both support the program.   They gave her a lovely Knockout rose bush!   Janet had dinner plans with some friends who also live in Lexington.  Mom and I went up to the quilt group meeting at the Community Center.  Some of the gals who were in the group when I was still living in IL are still members.  They were sewing Christmas stockings for the military that evening.  I sat down to talk to one of the gals and told mom that I should have brought her Jem up to help instead of working on my basket stitchery.  Mom ran back to the house to get it.  Eloyce and I sewed our way through all the cut out fleece cuffs that will be applied to them.  Once done they go to State Farm to be filled and shipped out.  Eloyce was going to give me a lift back to the house since Mom was going to go on home but I turned around and she was chatting with someone else.  See?  Even on vacation, I am stitching!!

Friday we had told Mom we were going out for Girl's Day Out at the tea room in Clinton where my sister Diane lives.  What she did not know was others in the family were coming as well!   Here is the La Tea Da!  The parking was behind the building and the others were waiting as we approached.  We got her again---hugs all around.  We had told her earlier that her boys would be coming on Saturday.  By that time we were getting a good bit of "is it true that________?"  Who could you trust with all the whoppers or sins of omission we had been committing?

And here is the whole gang------thanks to our waitress who took the picture.  Note the birthday girl's tiara?

Seated from left,  Kristine, her mother/my sister Diane, me, my niece Allison, my twin nieces Elizabeth and Laura, Mom.   Standing behind us my sister Janet and my sister-in-law Jen.

Diane had made a lovely raspberry white chocolate cheesecake for dessert so we had gone back to her house.  Even her little long hair chihuahua pup Izzie was dressed for the occasion in her party dress!

Laura with Izzie and Elizabeth with her sister and litter mate Lexie--minus clothing at that point.  Even Kristine's puppy Sydney was getting into the dress-up deal with a sun dress on, LOL.

This was a busy weekend for Kristine and her husband as they had just closed on their first home on Thursday evening---and the occupant was still in the house at 9 p.m!!  Short sale 7 months in the making.  They had to be out of their apartment by Sunday night.  Lots of work to be done.

We went home to make a few dishes for the meal at Jen and Phil's lovely home for Saturday and picked up the cake on the way back from Clinton.    My brother Phil was away at Boy Scout camp in Canada with my nephew John, his last time since he will soon be turning 18.  John recently made Eagle Scout!   Diane had given Mom a new digital camera since she was still using my old sony that used floppy discs---some of these were taken with new camera.  Lessons ensued over coming days in how to use it and get at the contents.  Janet was working with Dad on scanning some of the older family pictures that will eventually be made up into discs for the siblings.  Some computer help was given by both Janet and I. 

Front row:  sister Janet, Mom and Dad, the hostess with the mostest my sister-in-law Jen
Back row: my BIL Rick standing next to my sister Diane his wife. Me, my brother Steve.  (Wife Jan was dog sitting her two dogs and her bosses dog so stayed in TN)  My sister-in law Ann with my brother Dave

 grandparents with the grands who were present
Mom and Dad surrounded by Laura, Beth, Rose, Ted, Allison and Elizabeth. (We were missing 6 of the grands)

By Sunday afternoon Phil and John were back from Canada.  Jen invited us back over and her parents were there as well to celebrate Father's Day.   Monday evening Janet was boarding the plane back for Colorado and Allison picked me up to take me to Schooner's for burgers and onion rings----yummo!  And we pinned that pile of quilts on Monday and Tuesday.  Jan quilted,  Mom and I pinned.

Here is what followed me home though Diane is mailing a box of blacks and abandoned blocks-------

This combo is straight out of the boxes Mom has on the table in the family room-----I am going to cut out and kit a couple of Prairie Stroll tops for us, one for me and one for her.

And this stuff should work for my Farmer's Wife Sampler------

---------------------
Since I have been home and unpacked there was the usual laundry and errands to run, paperwork and mail to deal with.  I also was shuffling my fabric containers around, replacing about 6 of them with 4 snap lock 20 qt models.  I had to make some room for the recent acquisitions and re-organized some of the mess in the closet as well.   I filled two of them right back up----one for the paint chip challenge and the other, the Farmer's Wife stuff.  I also re-arranged the design wall but I'll post that later.  I finished the egg basket stitchery that I had been working on intermittently but more on vacation.  Read two books too.

DJ and I had to take my 606 New Balance shoes back to Kohl's for exchange as they were already wearing out in the same spot on both shoes, right worse than the left.  I had kept up my walking while I was back and bumped up the distance---till I got another blister on the left heel.  I figured I only had about 18-20 hours use of them. DJ was discouraging me from getting another pair just like it but those things are comfortable on my foot, if you discount the blisters.  Part of that may have been for walking out in the woods with rubbing sandals when John took us out to see his primitive campsite setup that was his Eagle Scout project. 

While I was away he had started to try to replace my drippy bathroom faucet but with the long water lines complications, he called in Lowe's to finish the job.  I think this will be a lot easier to keep clean since it had the single lever and no faucets with grooves.   He also got himself fitted for a hearing aid that we picked up on Friday while on our errands.  Hopefully this will help the decibel level of the TV that drives me bats.  He had picked up his new glasses post cataract surgery but those were transition lenses and he decided bifocals would be a better option.  Lastly, the dishwasher repair guy was back out to replace that danged gasket which keeps falling out.  He and Skyler held down the fort.  He is still caulking some siding cracks, priming and painting in the back of the house---ongoing project. 

Yesterday I was essentially down in bed----it started with a scratchy throat on Friday and I knew I was probably going to be in trouble.  That how it always starts.  Yep, I got a head cold, cough, drippy nose--bad headache.  Same thing happened that last time I flew------hmmmmm.  At least I have remained upright today and feel some better.  The closest I got to anything quilty the last few days is just some drawing in EQ and filing away some patterns. 

I guess that is about it for this post----------thanks again to Diane for getting me the ticket home and to my parents for putting Janet and I up at the house.  Love you guys.

Still not sewing?

Still not sewing??  Then more cleaning but toss in cooking two meals instead of the usual one and some baking to boot, LOL.   DJ had neglected to pick up some of his awful store bought oatmeal cookies---he has one or two after lunch and after dinner.   I offered to make some "not a bday" cupcakes that he should have gotten when it WAS his birthday.

I used  the Chocolate Nutella Cupcake recipe from 52 Kitchen Adventures blog, scratch baked since I didn't have any cake mixes on hand.  That's okay though I like to scratch bake.  I had time to play in the kitchen---not sewing, after all.  The cake part is good, moist, dark chocolate taste but they sunk a bit in the middle.  Not at first but it may have been when I switched the pans around and took the larger pan out to test.   Also I noticed that the temperature dial had moved from where I had set it too far into the baking.   I decided that I do NOT like messing with those paper liners.  They do not fit the holes in the pan, fan out and then you can't get the batter into them without them folding or dumping.

I let DJ test the missing cake as it had stuck to the pan when I removed it to the rack to cool before I frosted them.  He liked the cake but said it needed frosting---which I had made up so I glopped a bit on his uneaten portion, LOL.   The frosting is wonderful --- chocolate, nutella-- how bad could that be??  Other than the obvious fat levels, I mean.   I wanted to play with the piping tip of the Wilton Decorator thing I had recently bought but obviously could use more practice.   DJ spotted me and told me if I got good then he had some caulking I could do on our siding.  Nope, that's your job, Honey but thanks for the vote of confidence!  Most of these are going in the freezer.  I'll pick up his cardboard cookies tomorrow when I go to get groceries.

I posted this bit of nostalgia on facebook where they had been posting old washtubs and washboards, wringer washer etc.  I have a pictures of me outside in a washtub---that started my trip down memory lane. I had a picture with Dave and Mom at the wringer washer too.  Maybe an old Sunbeam mixer will be next?   In this shot Mom was obviously making something.  The fact that we three kids are gathered around the mixer must be because we were ready to lick the beaters and spatula/bowl if offered.   I'm guessing she was making cake and this is the frosting.  Such a look of concentration on my little face!  Budding baker??  I am 6, Steve 5, Dave 3 assuming this was early in the 1959 folder.

And a little detective work on  my part:  my sister Janet scanned most of the family slides and made us discs of the images. If the number assigned to the slide used the information Dad gave it originally, it may have been for Dad's graduation from Northern Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL back in 1959. ( OR it could have been his April birthday.)    A subsequent shot shows my grandparents with several aunts and a uncle gathered around the table having punch and cake---yellow cake with white frosting.  The following images show the church in rural Wisconsin that was my dad's first pastorate and where he was ordained the following year.  Memories!

So today----more binding ahead on the 76 Bowties QOV.  I can turn it in Saturday since the quilt guild will be meeting.  Some weeks I just barely leave the house but will not be the case this coming week with a board meeting in Pell City tomorrow, Belles on Tuesday and back over to Pell City for the guild meeting Saturday.    Today is the Golden Springs Quilt and Car Show and I'll run out this afternoon since I will need to bring my entries home as well.

There you have it for today's installment-------

what a week!

A week ago I was packing to leave for Illinois for a few days. DJ's grandson Josh, seen at left, was graduating from high school so this time DJ had to make the trip too. Ordinarily he goes every other or every third year. He is happy if I can get a ride up with friends from round here. Or he can drop me off and/or pick me up at the Atlanta airport. If my brother and his family are going to the same deal, I can meet up with them in their home near Nashville and ride up the rest of the way too. Options!

My friend Jane had offered to come in and tend to Skyler's needs while we were gone. We took her up on it so he would not have to be boarded at the vet's office. The private place we had used before had closed since we needed it last. This seemed to be our best option. We could leave earlier in the day and he would be happier in his own surroundings.

We usually have to wait to leave after 8 and then stop overnight in southern IL leaving about 3 hours to go the next morning. Coming home, we do straight back. This time we left at 6 a.m. and drove all the way up, switching off drivers every few hours. It still is about a 12 hour day of driving (about 650-675 miles) counting rest stops and meals, barring no traffic delays. Going up, we lost an hour outside of Paducah but coming home on Sunday, smooth sailing. I do some of Southern IL, all of KY and Alabama from the welcome center on.

Once we hit McLean County we split up for two nights. I went to my parents and DJ, to his son's house. That might seem a little strange but it works for us---each of us get to spend a little more concentrated time with our own branch of the family. Thursday was pretty well shot by the time we got there and early to bed after that long day. Friday, a lot of talking. Mom showed me her recent quilt tops and we looked at quilt patterns. I came home with a grocery bag full of novelties and some quilt backing, batting plus a box of books to read and quilt magazines to look thru. We had lunch at the Peace Meal center---my dad is filling in for the site director while she is out. Later, my sister Diane dropped by so we could visit a bit too. Then I drove to Downs for supper with DJ's family and then off to graduation.

Oh, not without mishap either. I was driving my mom's slightly unfamilar car and couldn't get the key out of the ignition. I am forever turning on the wipers thinking it is the gear shift knob---what does that tell you??? I went up to the house to have DJ come help me with it and somehow managed to lock the car behind me. I don't think I even knew where the door locks necessarily were! Yep, keys in the ignition and the thing is not in park. Josh spotted the problem right away but we could not get in the car to do anything about it. I had to call my folks to come bail me out. Josh's girlfriend Lauren said she used to do that when she drove a Malibu but what an introduction to me. Ditzy step-grandma.

There were 75 kids in Josh's class but they got thru the proceedings in pretty good order. It was a dampish, cool night which was a blessing with that packed gymnasium. Josh plans on going to SIU-Edwardsville to major in pre-med or pre-dentistry this fall.

Saturday I met my niece/godchild Allison for breakfast at a Norma restaurant. She had plans in Springfield that afternoon so that worked out best. Good to see her, if only for and hour or two. The waitress was a good sport about letting us just sit and talk since there were enough open tables. I picked up a gondola from Avanti's for lunch and headed back home. Two things we miss from "home" are gondolas (it's the bread!) and Steak and Shake so we almost always stop at one or both places when we are back.

My sister Janet, her husband Rich and daughter Randi were due in from Colorado sometime Saturday evening. Their other daughter Amber is enrolled at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and they are moving her back home for the summer. I didn't get to see her as she was gone on choir tour and not due back till Tuesday.

We kept in touch as to their ETA so Mom knew when to put the casserole in the oven. They arrived right around 6. Woohoo, they are here. Hugs all around! Not without mishap here either. Before we could stop them, Randi had pulled the car into the usual parking spot, right in front of the house. She only did what her parents told her to do. The problem was, unbeknownst to them, that was not solid ground. You see, the whole town has been going thru a year long (or more) sewer line replacement and there are dirt piles and gravel everywhere. The streets are all broken up from all the digging, etc. My folks' pile of dirt was just leveled off to ground level just a few days before; there is gravel mixed in with it but it was not packed down and firm, by any means.

Well, the car's drive wheel was stuck a good 9 inches or more. Rich couldn't get it moved forward or backward. Fortunately the "across the street" neighbors were home and came out to help. They unhooked the trailer they were pulling and manually moved it away to the yard. Then Adam was able to pull the car out with a pull cord thing by using his truck hitch and the trailer hitch on the car. Dad and Janet got the worst of the mud and gravel off with a spade and putty knife and Rich hit it with the hose. A lot of excitement before supper even commenced!

DJ had spent his day by going out to breakfast with his son and grandson inviting his golfing friend and his wife along. He also stopped to see another old friend from work for a visit and decorated his family graves while he was in town. Tracy, Luann and Josh had a bunch of graduation partiesto attend all weekend so it was good that he had joined us in Lexington for supper. The plan was to pick me up and I would spend the night at their house there since we were leaving bright and early Sunday morning.

What a good time we had visiting with the Colorado contigent! I think my sides still heart from laughing. My dad had gotten so tickled and Janet has a great laugh so you cannot help but laugh right along with them. I don't know if they were just a little punch from lack of sleep or what, LOL. Or if getting stuck in the mud brings that out in you.

Janet has been a busy girl, scanning all my dad's slides into digital images. I had not noticed that the boxes that contained them were missing from the bookshelves in the family room. She said that Dad and Mom's discs had more photos on them since they included more of the travel slides whereas the rest of us had the family pictures on them.

What a fantastic gift! All the old classic family shots are included. Some are also in our individual photo albums as prints but some I only recall seeing as slides. Here I am at 10 months standing in the stroller. At least I think it was a stroller. It saw service with at least three of us kids. The old square baby tenda made it thru the first 4 of us. I loaded mine on my screen saver once I got home and spent a good chunk of yesterday watching the pictures roll on by. Still, not the same as Dad loading up the trays and one of the 3 younger kids asking "when am I going to get borned?"
But it will do!!

The family will be meeting this coming Saturday to finally celebrate my parent's 60th wedding anniversary. It is in February but the weather was so awful with lots and lots of snow that they postponed the gathering till THIS weekend when the Colorado bunch would be back to IL. Too bad we could not have graduation be the same weekend as this event but we had to get home. What is that thing about "fish and company" and three days time?

So after a 4 day whirlwind weekend we were home by 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Skyler seemed happy to see us, though surprisingly did not meet us at the door. He is more vocal than usual and wants to play more too. Lots of running trips up and down the hallway since we have been home. Snuggling more too. I am grateful to Jane for tending to his needs while we were away.

One bad thing though upon our return: DJ had shut off the water supply to the house and the water heater. The pilot light went out and he could not get it re-lit even with guidance from Whirlpool on the phone. It being a holiday weekend we had to wait till yesterday for a plumber to come out so we would have hot water. The stuff in the tank was hot for awhile but not enough to wash dishes, do 3 loads of laundry or do more than sponge bath. The thermal coupling hose, tube whatever had to be replaced as a part of the ignitor had burned out.

Also DJ's lawnmower battery had completely run down. He was able to charge it up and run it last night but likely, it will need to be replaced. Just not today. They say we are probably going to have record highs this week. It is hot! Mid to high 90's with little cloud cover to filter out the sun's intense rays. This is more what you expect in August than in late May, early June. Our paper says our rainfall totals are still about 4 inches behind though we emptied an inch out of the gauge when we got home. It looks like most of the eastern US is in this type of weather pattern right now and it is not expected to move on any too quickly-----ugh!

Well, now that I can totally immerse myself I am getting in the shower and then I am going to blow hot air at my head. Silly girl, growing out that hair a bit! Thanks for stopping by--------

WIP Weds.

Well, to be honest it is NOT quite in progress yet but it IS what I will be stitching on as soon as I am done cleaning the bathroom, LOL. Nosy kitty climbed into the folds of the quilt last night to check it out.

I was busy with kitchen chores this morning. A pot of pinto beans are simmering in the crockpot. I also made some cranberry sauce and a no-bake pumpkin pie for our turkey meal tomorrow. After making a store run and a few other errands, it was time for lunch. Where has the morning gone?


Pictured at right, DJ and Skyler testing out the new to them recliner "throne". DJ's beloved recliner that he had for 25 yrs and babied thru dropped hardware, etc finally gave up the ghost Monday night. He called someone in a classified ad about on they had listed. They had a used burgundy Lane recliner in stock and he had just knocked it down half price to 75 bucks. DJ insisted that I go look at with him or risk me complaining about a "monstrosity" in my living room till the end of time, LOL. We did look at some new ones as well but the delivery rate was as much as the used chair! If it doesn't work out for him, we are not out much money and have an idea of what a new one would cost.

Skyler gave it, and the new kitchen throw rug I had gotten, the old sniff and circle test. New stuff to scout out that wasn't here before, you know. DJ thought that Skyler would not get in the chair with him that readily but it only took a hour or so. It looks like these two will be sitting there in their customary positions come TV viewing time tonight.

That bathroom is not going to clean itself. DJ received confirmation that the golfing friend will not be here till late Thursday night-early Friday morning. The forecast is not good for getting a round so I doubt he is here long. We'll see. Meanwhile, I have a clean house to enjoy and some hand work to keep me busy.

home again

I arrived home yesterday morning from a trip to IL with stops in TN coming and going. At this point I am glad to be seated in something that is NOT moving, LOL but it was so good to see my family! I am the oldest of six children so parts of this might be confusing to follow if you aren't related to us, but I'll do my best.

Shown below is the oldest of the nieces and nephews from a Christmas celebration some years back. I pulled the picture off the wall collage to scan it. Of course, they are young adults now and making their way in life. My sister from Colorado was "home" that year as the youngest child you see in the picture will be a senior in high school come fall. so we could probably figure out the year if we wanted. As time went on two more of us would move out of state. 6 more grandchildren would arrive---4 girls, 2 boys as well as foster children for one brother. My, how time flies!

I left here on Thursday morning with planned stops along the way. DJ had elected to stay home with Skyler and hold down the fort. He only goes back every other year anyway and this was the "off" year. When the woman who had planned to ride along with me to Boaz earlier in the week had to cancel, I decided to deliver the t-shirt quilt tops on my way out of town. A bit out of the way but as long as I ended up on I-65 N at some point it worked for me. My Viking 500 and a friend's serger were dropped off at the sewing machine shop in Albertville. Then onward to Huntsville. I don't think I had ever been on US 431 past Lake Guntersville though I have been to parts of Huntsville before but from alternate routes and angles. I finally know where the Huntsville Space Center is since I drove right past it.

I arrived at my brother Steve's home near Lebanon, TN about 3 p.m. The plan was for me to travel on up to the family gathering in IL with them. My long time friend Cindy lives in Mt. Juliet (just to the west about 9 miles) and we had planned to get together to visit and have supper. Given directions on how to get to her house, I took off for Cindy's so my family could spend one last evening with their former foster daughter going out for her fav meal, etc. Several years back I had gotten Cindy hooked up with my SIL Jan when they were considering their move to the Nashville area so it is only natural that my family spare me for a bit, LOL. My friend is now their friend too! Good to catch up with her and her husband!

My sister-in-law was staying home this trip but my niece Beth, foster niece Rose, Steve and I took off for IL on Friday morning. We were heading for a sort of "Christmas in July" family gathering with my folks, siblings and their families.

Only thing was, my youngest brother Phil and his family had made out of state plans--one son was at scout camp, the other two males were going on a fishing trip to Canada while the females were headed to Florida to visit friends in the Sarasota area. My SIL Jen and her twin almost 10 yr old girls were not leaving til bright and early Saturday morning so we got to see them. Jen and Phil had offered us the use of their beds for the weekend to cut down on hotel expenses so we took them up on it. Rose's bio parents came to pick her up at my parents house Friday afternoon so she didn't stay over but the Colorado cousins stayed there on Saturday night.

I stayed with my parents on both Friday and Saturday night. Mom needed my help in the kitchen on Saturday to prepare food for the gathering on Sunday plus I had to prepare my "dish to pass". I made a Tex-Mex sheet cake and two batches of Maid-rite loose meat for sandwiches. I broke up the pork meat that had been cooked the day before for BBQ. I knew we were going to have an ice cream bar and made good use of some of my dad's bountiful yellow raspberry supply by making raspberry sauce and pulling some of his strawberries from the freezer and making strawberry topping too. My sister Diane was in charge of the hot fudge sauce and a cole slaw type salad while another SIL had "fruit salad" of some sort as her assignment. Mom decided to make some chocolate Rice Krispie treats at the last minute too. She kept busy chopping onions, celery and making the necessary store runs. Mom was doing the prep work for Hopi Tacos for our evening meal, a dish and recipe that came to the family after a church mission trip.

By mid afternoon Saturday my sister Janet and her family arrived from Colorado after an overnight stay in the Amana Colonies in IA They had also gone to the town we used to live in near the Quad Cities--a little out of the way but not all that much. It being Independence Day by then, we had hoped to see fireworks that night at the small town just north of where they live but it had rained much of the day and no one was aware of what the town's contigency plan was till we saw the Sunday paper----5 area celebrations were on for Sunday instead. Woohoo--we weren't going to miss it after all!

A lot of talking, eating, laughing in between Jan's arrival and Sunday fireworks. All but one nephew in the grandkids above was there. The family of 6 and Steve's wife was not there as previously stated but the majority of the family was "home". I had brought my camera but didn't take a single picture! I know I can get copies from someone else's digital camera so I'm not worried about it. The old stories were told on each other and they still crack us up. New stories and experiences were shared. Mom and Dad had been doing some cleaning in the attic and had envelopes with old pictures in for each of us kids---trust me, those were good for a few laughs!! The hairdo's alone in the school pictures---oh my! Sorry, Diane and Janet but I am cracking up all over again just seeing those in my mind's eye.

Grandma and Grandpa opted out of the fireworks but the Colorado branch along with the TN-AL connection went. Chenoa holds their fireworks on the high school football field and we could see a lot of folks on the grounds of a church right across the street so we figured that was the spot to be. Since it was not quite sunset when we arrived. we set the chairs up in a circle so we could visit face to face. The girls were clowning around taking pictures and entertaining us. Turns out where we set up the lawnchairs was right near some friends of Jan and Rich, two girl cousins and their spouses and some of their kids, from my dad's former pastorate. The friends were going "hey, that looks like Jan and Rich. But it can't be--they live out of state" then progressing to the questioning hello and hugs all around. One of the girls parents came to join them later and Steve and I went to greet them and chat a bit. We were also set up near the spot where they set off some of the ground displays intermittently during the fireworks display while the aerial stuff went off over a vacant field. It was really cool--a bit like being right near a giant sparkler with glitter coming out of it. The girls have some video taken of it and you can hear the whizzing sounds of the stuff on it. What fun!

Sunday night I stayed at our brother's home as we were leaving for TN early the next morning. Steve lives about 7 hrs away so Monday was essentially spent driving. We went out for Italian food that evening and rented "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" to watch that evening. I left yesterday for home a little before 6. Had I not needed to stop at the Gadsden Wal-mart to get a pillow to replace the one I inadverently left behind I would have been home a little after 10.

Guess that's about it for the travel story and vacation. I have errands to run, groceries to get ( husband tired of running out for food) Here I am still in my nightgown, LOL. I started this post two hours ago. Obviously I didn't walk this morning! Phone just rang and I have an invitation to ride along to the quilt shop in Trussville and out for lunch at the Chocolate Biscuit tea room come Friday. Maybe I am not as tired of the car as I thought! Best get crackin' here----------

Challenge reveal, trips here and there

A little over a month ago I was working on a secret FAB challenge that I could not show you. We knew that all the packages had arrived at their destinations and made arrangements to be on messenger last night at an arrived upon time with present and cameras in hand. So now we can share with bloggerland what we have been up to. I tell you, the hardest part for me was not sharing pictures with the non-receipients ahead of time!!

You see, Pam and Norma picked out a piece of running eights at Joann's went they met up earlier this summer for challenge purposes. Shortly thereafter Pam mailed out a section to Cher, Pat and I after names were pulled of who we sent a surprise to. Not only did we need to use a bit of all the fabrics in the half yard--each shade of purple--but were to make something that can be used. No quilts but wallhangings or table mats were okay.

Above you see what Pat made for me--isnt't it the coolest thing? She made her own gift tags and had the pieces wrapped up so prettily. I don't know that she knew it at the time but she used the same graphics that I do on my blog from Graphic Garden to make the tags--link in the sidebar. She made me a Wonder Wallet which I needed to replace my coin purse which is shot. a coin purse/zippered pouch with the purple on the inside of the bag, a cute tissue holder and adorable green purse trimmed with the purples from a placemat! There was also some cute kitten notecards and a tin of itty bitty cinnamon hearts thrown in the box along with some fabric she was returning to me from the quilts she had done and a nice big chunck of batting for filler. Thanks so much, Pat. I will treasure these items. Please visit the other blogs to see their reports and pictures--links above.

Below is what I made for Pam---Stitch Notes by Leslie D. Anderson of "My Time"--these were her Amish Sampler patterns, I believe. The kit had been hanging on my pegboard above the cutting/pressing table for years. Since foundation piecing is what brought Pam and I together way back in 98, I thought it was appropriate especially since we were working with a limited color palette. She keeps saying that they are too pretty to use! I know I made some Christmas foundation pieced cards one year and my sister-in-law wanted to frame hers. Pam might do the same, she said.



So what have I been doing since I last posted? I DID go up to my brother's home in TN last week as planned leaving at 0533 on Wednesday to go up and oddly, 0533 on Friday to come home. Pictured are we three siblings (there are three others) and the 13 and under crowd of nieces and nephews. My SIL and gracious hostess was taking the picture. I'm the oldest of the 6 so I think you know which one is ME. Sorry but the thing won't click bigger for some odd reason nor would the cards---Pam will post on hers if you have to see them bigger.

Later Jan's husband and my youngest brother and his wife ( and 4 of these kids' parents) would arrive from Illinois. My SIL Jan and I went out to lunch on Wednesday with my friend Cindy who lives in the next town over while the rest of the group went to the Nashville water park. I went back to Cindy's till late afternoon so we could visit a bit longer. Friday my brother took my sister and I out to lunch and on to see the Hermitage while SIL Jan took the kids to the pool. Other than that we hung out at the house and visited. And ate---well!

I look and WAS hot as I had just gotten back from walking the dog around Five Oaks golf course and up pretty good hill. At 10 something in the morning in 85 degree heat at least. I can walk the 2 plus miles easily as I normally go 3.3 miles 6 days out of 7 but that is on relatively flat land. I was panting almost as bad as Max by the time we hit the clubhouse area and sat down in the first spot of shade I spotted. A woman who worked at the course saw us and asked if we wanted a drink--her cart had broken down. She came with a big glass of water for us both and a big cup of ice for me. What a sweetie! My SIL said that she has talked with this same woman before when she was out walking. The picture above is at the Nickajack rest stop near Chattanooga on the way home. I would be getting off 1-24 and heading south to AL on I-59 not long after this was taken and through the worst of the steep grade road.

Tuesday the Bama Belles and I (7 of us--3 others couldn't make it) took a field trip just over the state line into Georgia to Bowdon and Douglasville. Pat had offered to drive since she could take more folks in her van though we would have taken a car as well if the others had come. I had alerted the owner at Qwiltz that we were coming and she gave us a special sale of 25% off and if we took the end of the bolt on a stack of fabrics she had set aside then we got another 5% on top of that. I got 4 half yards of fall fabric and two fats of same as well as this Texas Trellis pattern. The shop owner designed the template set for Drunkard's Path and I knew that when I asked where they were in shop. She gave us all a quick demo and sold 3 more sets! Smart lady! Pretty slick way to make these things though it is done in a not conventional sewing manner--which works a lot better, I might say. The set came in 3, 4, 5 and 6 inch and she gave us the 2 inch one for our keyrings. (She had used that size for a santa nose wallhanging on view at the shop. Too clever)

From there we went to a Mexican restaurant near the quilt shop that they recommended and then took a vote whether we went to a fabric shop in nearby Carrolton (that might have two l's) or went on to Joann's in Douglasville. Joann's won since there were coupons burning holes in some of the lady's pockets, LOL. I got a stack of fasteners only because I wanted the container for DJ and a seam ripper and set of paper scissors since both of mine needed replacing. Got home about 6 in the rain--which we need badly.

Other than that I have basically been sewing on that fall project which I finished foundation piecing last night just before the FAB reveal. I had entertained the notion of doing turkeys--- this one in particular which I had re-drawn in EQ5 (6 wouldn't open but tech support got me straightened out--yahoo!) but changed my mind and picked another fall item that had not be added to the robin yet. The floor in here needs a rake and the dust and lint is flying, LOL! I still have one more to do--jailhouse rock theme with a deadline of 8-8 but not today. I need to clean up the mess from the last one first!! If I have any time left, I think I'll finish up that last snowman block. (oh, I could help the person who inquired about those in comments if they will give me their email address, please and thank you. No reply blogger is not a help in this case)

Have a great day in whatever you chose to do----

vacation wrapup

I have been back from my trip to visit with family in Illinois for week now and up there for one day shy of a week so it has been a bit since I posted. But, no matter---I'm doing it now, LOL. It was good to get away but we are happy to be home.

DJ put me on the plane out of Atlanta on Tuesday and I arrived at the Central Illinois Regional Airport right at the stroke of 1056 a.m. Funny thing is, the flight time is equal to the drive time to Hartsfield Airport so DJ got home about the same time I landed in Bloomington-Normal.

I arrived up at my folks with this view in the family room. The bins were piled up since they normally sit under my mom's cutting/pinning table. She had already told me she needed my help in pinning the 15 tops she had been piecing over the last couple months. BUT a local gentleman had called them to come out to get some fabric that had belonged to his wife who had been admitted to a care facility with Alzheimers. He wanted it to be used for Mom's donation quilt work. She told him she would share with me as I was also involved with the same work. The woman was quite a collector but her husband said she had never made a quilt.

We had a ball going through it and pairing things up for this quilt and that. We had at least 13 stacks that would go for this or that pattern pulling only a few pieces from her stash to go with. Warm Wishes, Naptime, Prairie Stroll, Log Cabin, some new ones we had seen on the internet recently......you name it. We printed patterns off, I worked something up in EQ and all those were labeled with what went where in the scheme of things till she could cut them out. Some of the fabric came home with me already but we will also divide up the leftovers once she cuts the kits out so more will be coming by way.


2 1/2 days later we decided that maybe we better start pinning at least a few of those tops! 11 of the 15 were tended to over the next few days--I was going to DJ's son's house by Saturday afternoon so we had to make good use of the time we had.

I want to share a few of her tops with you. Not sure where the labels will land though. (Obviously I don't have anything of my own to share) Click on the pictures to see them bigger, as usual.

This 1st one is BQ 2 from Maple Island Quilts--cute with novelty prints.



Warm Wishes--free pattern online at the quiltmaker/quilter's newsletter sites. This used the same print I had used in my 9 Patch Pizzazz recently and was a challenge piece between the two of us. Pat showed a bit of it on her blog post a few days ago. She was kind enough to quilt this one for me and will mail it on to M2M.

This was one of two Orange Crush Mystery quilts from Bonnie Hunters recent mystery quilt. Mom had quilted both of them so I could bring them back and mail them off with the others we had teamed up on.

We do love those scrappy quilts especially the ones that use up the strings and crumbs! Here is Mom's version of one that she saw on Jeanne's blog recently. Very striking, isn't it?

Okay, back to the narrative. I got to see my niece/god"child" Allison and my sister who lives in the area mid week so it was not all quilting, all the time. Next time up if I have time, I will definitely try to see my brother in the Kankakee-Bourbonnais area. It just didn't work out this trip.

DJ drove up in the car and stayed a night in southern IL so arrived at my folks late morning on Friday. We went down to B-N for lunch (Schooner's for onion rings and a big fat juicy cheeseburger---yummmy!) Then we drove past some of our old haunts and residences. His golfing buddy came by the restaurant and they got their tee time for Sunday before we headed back to my parents as we had an appointment with someone on the cemetary board.

This might sound a little morbid but one thing we needed to do this trip was arrange for our burial site. Originally we thought we were going to look in Bloomington and DJ had called the three sites so knew how much they were asking for them. For grins and giggles, I asked my dad what the going rate was in their small town---let's just say we got both plots for about 1/3 of the cost of one in Bloomington at the cheapest of the three cemetaries. The spot we have is about 10 feet away from my parents too.

DJ was staying at his son's on Friday and they were off to a basketball tournament near Kankakee on Saturday---see, I should have gone with them and had my brother come get me but it's too late now!! Mom knew I was selling some of my books on Amazon and took the opportunity to go through some of hers. Dad helped bundle the ones she up that she didn't want anymore and loaded them up in the car along with two boxes of fabric. See why I needed the car more than DJ did??



I had made plans to see my brother and his family Saturday evening. They had been at baseball games much of the day while the oldest nephew had a scouting event in town. My sister-in-law invited me to stay for supper and one of my niece's set up the appetizers and entertained us as we dined outside. They have a new puppy to love up on. No pictures though as I left the camera at Tracy's with my luggage on the way over to my brother's house. The kids are growing up, that's for sure!



Sunday the golfers went off to play so I read and caught up with my email, ran into town on an errand. Our grandson Joshua had a double header at his high school so we went in to watch that after lunch. Then back to their house to watch more baseball---this time the professional kind. Go Cards! Josh had plans that evening with friends and we ate in B-N at Buffalo Wild Wings that evening.



By Monday morning the whole household was up and at it early--back to work for Tracy & LuAnn and Joshua is on a summer workout program with all the sports he is involved in. No need for us to wait to get on the road. DJ got the IL and TN driving while I did the KY and AL legs of the trip and we hit the place where Skyler was being boarded a little after 5. I had forgotten to enter their number in the cell phone and we took a chance that they would still be open. Hurray, he got to go home with us too. What a sweet baby he was being last week!



Good to see our families take a break from our routine but good to be back home too.

shop hoppin'

I don't know just where the day has gone but it is almost time for supper! How did that happen? I don't have to cook since we have leftovers available and will be going out for lunch tomorrow--cook's night off, I guess. I suppose I'll just keep goofing off--maybe do a few rows on my sweater or the November snowman block.

I had been on a tear with quilting some of the tops for Mexico--4 quilts done in 4 days time-- and intended to continue on that pace this weekend as well. Well, not completely done--the binding volunteers will finish up. My part is done though. BUT my pal Judy unexpectedly stopped by Friday afternoon to drop off a book for me and issued an invitation to go the Atlanta (GA) area shop hop with her on Saturday. I took me about 2 seconds to say "YES" and work out the logistics. DJ and I had tickets to the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast Saturday morning so could we leave after that? Sure! Turns out Judy had just told her husband to go to the same breakfast without her but she would go after all and meet me there. We would send the boys on home without us after we ate. Playtime!

It is about 90 miles or so to the outskirts of Georgia on I-20 so off we went. Got hung up for a good bit trying to hit I-285 North to Marietta since we were heading to Tiny Stitches. Judy had gone to the Hop in '05 with a couple of the Belles but for reasons I don't remember, I did not. She has visited the shop a few times in between and knew how to get there. I have been to Tiny Stitches once with Cher when she was visiting her sister who lives in the ATL area but no way would I have remembered how to get there. We picked up a map for the participating shops and took it from there.

Next up was Little Quilts since it is also in Marietta but we decided not to worry about getting all the passport stamps--no way since we had to get home to AL somewhere before supper and the shops would be closing at 5 Eastern time. Cher had said that Intown Quilters was her fav shop in the area--brights, batiks etc That appealed more to the both of us.

But first, we went to a Cheesecake Factory near a mall off 285--I didn't know where the heck I was all day, LOL. Yummmmy but no cheesecake for either of us. They could have had to clean drool off the pastry case had we not gotten to our seats soon. (I had Thai Chicken Pasta and Judy, grilled salmon and brought the leftovers home with us)

So the picture above shows what followed me home. From top left, a free pattern from Tiny Stitches and Intown Quilters rendition of the tropical themed shop hop quilt. Next to it, Little Quilt fats of shirtings and Civil War type fabric to add to my collection of same. I am not going to cave into the wave of Civil War Diary blocks I have seen on some blogs but I will make something with it in the future when I find a project I want to do with it. The striped fabric was included with their shop pattern along with the candy.

Moving to the right, a yard of bright green fabric. That I need for the next row quilt----a yard of fabric that "represents" us in some manner. We are to tell why we picked it out and what it means. Well, I guess I am a little "dotty", like brights and make kids quilts but what she wants us to do with it from there is unknown at this point. The red tone on tone and the red and green batiks are for the Christmas row that will be headed my way soon in May. The fat eighths in the lower right in front were from Tiny Stitches as our freebie while the batik squares were from Intown Quilters.

Lastly, the 8 fat quarters to the lower left are some I picked out for the Convergence wallhanging that we FABS are doing--check out the ones that Norma has selected! Now to narrow down which weekend we are going to actually sew this!

I got home from GA at 5 our time, just in time to fix our supper. Playtime over! DJ was enjoying the good weather yesterday and getting the lawnmower ready for spring/summer. Here's my fella relaxing in his recliner this afternoon and Pippi, above, thinking about sunbathing in the doorway. It was gorgeous outside today--almost 70 by our thermometer though as I write this the sun is setting and it is cooling a bit. We opened up the windows for some fresh air this afternoon. He got in 9 holes of golf this morning having played only 3 times in February--a little rusty would be an understatement, he said. I walked in my shirt sleeves in the mid 50's. Storms may be on the way in come Tuesday--nothing lasts forever but we can enjoy it while we have it, right?

So, none of plans worked out this weekend but I did something better that I had no idea I would be doing. Nice break away from the home routine and a good day with a friend. I'll take it! Hope you had a good weekend in whatever you chose to do.

vacation wrap up

It was good to get away to visit with my family in IL and good to get home. Normally if my husband goes with me, we have spend roughly two and half days traveling and two and half days actually there. If I fly in, then a week's stay. This time, I had the luxury of 10 days, thanks to my friend Marilyn and her husband Roger letting me share a ride as they were visiting family in NE Minnesota.

We got to our pickup destination about 9 p.m. on Wednesday 6/6. They stayed overnight at the hotel in LeRoy and my parents drove down from their Lexington home to get me. (My youngest brother and his family live in that small town right off I-74. ) Pictured is my youngest nephew Ted who was playing ball with his team Thursday evening. The winds were quite gusty but Ted made his pitching debut. Struck all three batters out in one inning--normally he catches. I have a couple of pictures of him pitching but had to take them through the fencing---almost got hit by a pop fly doing it, LOL.

Friday I took a sewing machine lesson at the Sewing Center where my mom had purchased my Brother NX-450 on Thursday morning. Played around a bit and got some questions answered. Worth the price of admission was finding out that bobbin plate with the cutter DOES pull off--here I had been using the seam ripper and a pair of tweezers to pick thread off an errant attempt to fill a bobbin and scolded DJ NOT to be tugging on it in his attempt to help me, LOL. Mom and I met my niece for lunch at a nearby restaurant before we went home.

Mom and I spent several days organizing her stash a bit. Cutting is hard on her back and the scraps bags were mounting. I didn't take a picture of all that but we cut off and on for 5 days. She pressed and I trimmed them down to size. Mom estimated that we probably made our way through a 56-58 qt tub to cut cut squares, strips, bricks and sections for a scrappy Bonnie Scotsman top. She loves to do Indian Hatchet or Railroad Crossing string blocks so we had quite a bunch of those too. She did some cutting but it was for two specific projects---"And All That Jazz" and "Checkboard Plaids" from Evelyn Sloppy's 40 Fabulous Quick-Cut Quilts

We had set aside that box you see full of fabric for me and some fabrics for the Belles---homespuns, plaids so I can do a checkboard in more countryish colors rather than the brights she was using---oh, I got some of the brights as well but those are for a "Kaleidoscope" quilt I started 10 plus years ago, LOL. Patriotics prints were also pulled as I have a row quilt that will call for them and I didn't have many on hand. Mom also shared a nice bundle of 30's repros with me as a "just because" and some fabrics for future WTIL quilts. The day before I left we started digging through her bins to find yardage for backing that she wanted to share with my quilt group. They are separated out by color or type of fabric but you know how that goes---it gets mixed up over time. And we kept finding more stuff that needed to be cut up as well. The white 13 gal kitchen bags seen above was the stuff we culled for backings and so forth. We were able to empty three of her large bins with the reorganization efforts but filled up two of them with scraps and chunks and another with fabric that had never really had a "home". My dad might not have been able to tell a difference but we could! He was teasing me that I had probably walked another mile back and forth from the family room to the utility room hauling fabric.

Back tracking a bit, Sunday the 10th we had our family gathering at the town were my dad was born and raised. I have not gotten to go since DJ and I moved south 10 years ago. We were all happy to see one of my cousins and her husband who live in Michigan as we had more or less, lost contact with that brother's family when he died some time ago. My first cousins are grandparents now so there are little ones around again. 2nd cousins once removed?? Third cousins??? How does that work exactly. Good food, good company and a chance to reconnect while the kids played.

My sister who lives about an hour from my parents had to work the weekend so she came up Monday evening after she got off and had supper with us. My niece Allison came up for lunch Tuesday afternoon and we got together again in Bloomington-Normal the next day. I like to go by the places I used to live and work if I can so took the drive passed the old haunts to see what had changed since our last trip. We met for lunch at Avanti's restaurant. Anyone who went to Illinois State University in Normal (or lives in Bloomington-Normal) or Bradley University in Peoria knows what that is!! Yummy--Italian beef sandwich with meat sauce and a loaf of that good bread to make my own gondola to share with my dad the next day. After a run to Joann's to nab a scrub top pattern, we went onto the movie theatre to see "Knocked Up" A run to one of the mega market stores to get some stuff for our evening meal and I was back in time to prepare supper.

Thursday we pinned one of Mom's completed tops as I wanted to try out her Brother Nouvelle 1500S machine. Wow, does that thing move! Because the design seemed to need some diagonal lines and the quilt was not too large I had it quilted by mid afternoon. The binding was attached in time for me to take it with me to her small quilt group meeting to work on the hand finishing. Several of the girls who would normally attend were not available but we stayed and visited with the ones that did come.

DJ was supposed to be cat sitting and tending the home fires while I was gone. Problem was, Pippi was not eating and was not acting like herself. He took her into the vet on the 11th where she stayed till the 15th. Turns out the old girl has a stage 3 (of 5) heart murmur and chronic renal insufficiency. Her lab values that measure her kidney function were about 4 times the normal parameters. If you look very closely you can see the shaved areas on her front legs---growing back fur again. IV fluids brought her labs down to a more reasonable level and her diet was changed. We have to take her in again tomorrow to see where she stands. It is possible that I will have to learn how to give her subcutaneous fluids here at home but will not know till tomorrow. She IS eating better but has seemed to prefer hiding under the bed coming out when she is darned well ready to. I am that mean old kitty mama that won't let her have any table tastings and has to stuff pills down her.

DJ survived his own cooking. He told me one evening that I had nothing to fear from his possibly taking over the chili cooking detail. I had gotten him a seasoning packet and the other ingredients as I knew he made that in his bachelor days. He said he added a package of Sweet and Low to it to make it more palatable. I laughed even harder a few nights later when he related that story to his son when he called. Tracy suggested he try some brown sugar instead. Those two exchanging recipe hints is something I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams! Good to know that he missed me. I had the opportunity to miss him since we are always around each other.

I just missed my sister from Colorado by about a day---the bed hardly had a chance to cool. She is taking a 3 day bike ride in Indiana with a friend while her girls visit with their grandparents and then will meet up with my niece and SIL from Tennessee for an arranged trip to the Chicago area and back to TN with them.

Yesterday I went through my own 3 fabric bins pulling stuff that I can share to make room for the new additions. Did the laundry and got groceries--that stuff you do after you return from a trip in other words. Today, took said fabric to the meeting place, library book return, bank stop, gas up the car, did the 110 mile round trip thing to get my Viking from the shop. I'll get back in the swing of things in a day or two---I would like to get that bowtie top finished up before the Belles meet next week and of course, I have to finish up my row quilt obligations as well especially since I have the machine back. There is one quilt in my stack to finish machine quilting too. I got one bound in the car trip there and back and part of a snowman bluework block done.

Oh, read 6 books while I was gone too---at home it seems like I don't have time. Somedays I barely even look at the newspaper and by bedtime am just too tired. Kept up my walking too as Mom is committed to an exercise program as well. My dad has already walked once around the globe and is a quarter way around again but he walks faster than either of us though I did do a couple of blocks with him one day. I was pretty proud that I am now up to 2.2 miles in 43 minutes time--8 laps at just a shade over 5 mins a lap. Hopefully that will make the little twerp doctor happier when I go mid week for a followup visit. Enough chattering--bore you all to tears!