Other than quilts...

Joe said he wanted to see something other than just quilts. I didn't get any family pictures taken this week- been kinda busy. Let's see... I have no recollection of just what I have been so busy at- other than quilting...

• Made a cherry crisp. Served it over ice cream. I hear it was good. The diabetic in the house is trying to curb unneccesary sugar. What is neccessary sugar? I'm not sure, but I'll know it when I see it.
• The bee balm is blooming. Some people don't care for the pungent smell they give out. I like it.
• Abe is busy being a nut- as usual. This is an old picture from the spring, but it's still applicable.
• The white cat's name is Tina Turner. Just because we can.
• Took the girls to Sandy's on Friday and we had a pool party and tea party and slumber party. All in one night. I might be to old for all that partying.
• Getting ready to send a couple of the boys off to camp. Lisa(sis in law) is here for the week. I am sure that we will be able to find something to get into. More partying. Just need to get through this stress test on Monday.

That's about the grand total of the excitement around here. Love you Joe and Dan!

The reason they're called floppies...

the wind keeps trying to blow them away! And it isn't even windy, today. There is a cool breeze from the North- thank you Darcie, we needed that! A very pleasant change.

Well, I guess you can see that I didn't spend too long just looking at my lovely clean quilting room!! These blocks are from my Wayward Fabric Club. For a while there, we were making blocks and exchanging them. I've had them pinned to the wall for some time now. Took them down when I was cleaning...And I had enough to put together- though I wasn't sure how that would turn out. Shouldn't have worried. I think that it makes a nice sampler for the guest bedroom. The background fabric I have had in my stash for quite some time. Bought the whole bolt on clearance for $3 a yard. Still have 7.5 yards left! I was thinking backing when I bought it... see how things change when you rearrange the sewing room? Now I have more blue in my stash - which is always pitifully low on the blues. I guess I am just not drawn to them like I am to the greens or browns. But I am liking them more each time I work with them so there is still hope that I might turn out a blue quilt some day. Ya never know.

Couldn't resist...

With temperatures over 90* I have to recall that it wasn't so long ago that the weather was a "bit" cooler! I had a productive day. I had two Dr appointments. You know you are getting old when that happens. One was with a cardiologist- get to have me a stress test next week. oh joy. Like life isn't one long ongoing stress test! The second was a follow up with a surgeon. I promised a dear friend that I would have a colonoscopy- she recently passed from colon cancer. Glad I had it done as I did have a large precancerous polyp. I would have been in trouble if I had put it off till I'm 50. Seven years can make a difference in this sort of thing. So what are you waiting for? It really wasn't unpleasant and the prep is much simpler than it used to be. My friend, Melinda, was 42 when she died. What a shame. Wake up call. I get to repeat this process in 2 years, myself. No biggee.

I came home from all that fun to declare war on the mess that was my quilting/sewing room. You know how things tend to pile up and before you know it every horizontal surface is hidden under a foot of... stuff. It took less than two hours with help from John- wore the poor boy out. But I am so thrilled with the finished product. It still needs a little tweaking but Wow what a difference. You'd think I'd want to sit down and sew now, right? Nah, I just want to sit and admire the room!! Stay cool.

Life is just a bowl of cherries...

Whoever made that saying up- to demonstrate how easy life is- was way off base. They must have never faced said bowl of cherries. OK, my bowl was a bit bigger than the average, maybe that is where the discrepency lies. Picked 15 gallons of cherries yesterday and today. What does one do with that many cherries, you ask? I'm here to say, that is a whole lot of pits- and we have only made it through the first 7 gallons. Made freezer jam- ten batches- and froze cherries for future pies. Still need to pit those last couple buckets. Thinking I might need to get the canner out and just can some, seeing as I am out of sugar and sure-jell. Wish I knew someone nearby who would like some work, er, cherries. We have tried about everything to make the process more interesting- including listening to the Beach Boys very very loud, talking about funerals, racing to the bottom of the bucket, etc. Not much makes cherry juice dripping from one's elbows more pleasant.

Been moseying along on the Bible flash cards that I'm making. I'm starting off with 6 copies of each time period. I don't handle repetition well. Gets a bit dull and boring. Only six more to go. Six times six... aw man, that's a lot. Like my metal ceiling in my quilting room? Gives it a very primitive feel and makes it... more interesting.

I am enjoying my embroidery machine. Haven't had much time to play with it- hasn't slowed me down, too much. Learning my way around the software- slowly, but surely. Old dogs, new tricks and all that. Haven't sewed much, quiltwise. I did make the two blocks that I need to sew for the Wayward Fabric Club challenge. But that's about it. Had our Gospel meeting this week- kept us hopping and now Nines is a tired girl.

The children have been swimming and they even were good enough to join me in some yard sale-ing. Found a very interesting book on making dyes from plants. I have some husks from some black walnuts that are ready to try out their dyeing ability. That will have to wait for another day...week? Picked up a couple hand knit dish towels for 10 cents each. Not much else. But we had fun looking. Hope everyone has a good week. I plan on keeping it simple and slowing down just a tad. But you know me- I can't seem to help myself from going full bore ahead and not stopping til I drop. Gotta fix that.

This week...

Had a busy week as usual. The girls helped me get the last of the annuals planted. I stood by and handed them the flowers while they dug the holes and put them in the ground. How things have changed. It wasn't so long ago that the roles were reversed. I think I like it this way. They are such a joy to watch as they each tackle the job in their own unique way, but each with the joy of planting. I just love that.

As you can see, I got quite the birthday gift this year! The kids and I have spent countless hours just watching it go to town- all on its own. I am hoping to figure out a way to make labels with it and also to make some postcards. I don't think I will turn into one of those embroidery machine fiends- you know who you are- but I am enjoying it, nonetheless.

We had company for a couple days this week- another usual occurance. A yound friend of the boys'- Andrew. He comes from a much smaller family and I think he got along well, despite our oddities. What would a few of them be? When we clean, we see no point in doddling. We whirlwind through the job and move on to more enjoyable tasks. One minte it's a disaster and the next it is reasonably orderly. He left the room and come back in five minutes and got quite a shock. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. sigh. And we randomly quote lines from movies regardless of recognizable references. "Don't drive angry." "Inconceivable!" "Too early for flapjacks?"

The kids got to go swimming in Sandy's pool, yesterday. It was very warm-90* and so perfect weather for it. I sweated in the shade and have the tan to prove it- farmers' tan. Several of our window air conditioners were stolen from our brother in laws' barn. So it looks like I'll be sweating through the summer. bummer. Not quite as bumming as the parts they removed from his central unit.

I am sure there are several more things that happened this week, but I'll abstain from discussing my health or the weather. Potluck after worship tomorrow. Was planning to fix an apple cake, but it stuck to the pan- Abe said people would still eat it even if it was ugly. I'll have to come up with something else. Asian coleslaw and coney dogs are going. And then the visiting preacher(gospel meeting) is coming to dinner on Monday- poppyseed chicken and rolls with a salad- lemon pound cake- will get the job done. Miss my boys. and my new daughter.

Seeing red...

Whatcha think? Sandy made these pretty little redwork blocks for me some time ago and I have been pondering what to do with them- isn't that fun? Pondering... I think that's my favorite part of "the process." I usually wake up in the mornings, early, and lie in bed and ponder. That's usually what gets me out of bed- an idea. So, I trimmed the blocks to 8", cut and sewed 2" coping strips to that... wound up with 11" blocks. Now I cut 13" squares from my red and white collection... isn't that fun? Collecting... I think that is my favorite part of "the process." giggle. You know me, I love it all. After I piled 8 red and whites on top of each other I wacked and shuffled the deck and came up with 8 crazy quilt blocks. It's gonna take a lot more to finish this quilt, as there are 24 redwork blocks. What a "bother"... more collecting. Have a great day!

22 pints of jam...

We went berry picking Memorial Day morning. The four youngest were busy bees and Laurie Anne was picking like a pro- she didn't even get red fingers like the rest of us! In just a little over half an hour we had picked 20 quarts- and at $1 a quart... sweet deal in more ways than one, huh? Bekah is my little shadow and she was a huge help in getting all that jam made. We also froze 10 quarts for shortcake and poundcake this winter- Won't that be a wonderful taste of summer when the snow flies?

The pied piper...

That's how I think of my Sweet Daughter in law- the children are like the rest of us and just adore her. Bless her heart, she never gets any rest! Here they are watching a video about self-defense- she loves swords and all things midievel. And they love her... so, we're all happy.

Like father like son...

Here, Bill is helping Joe change the sparkplugs on his car- Bill likes to make sure that the boys' cars are running as well as possible. He changed Dan's brake pads just the week before.

Mulberries are ready to eat...

And by the looks of their feet- they've been eating quite a lot! Even visitors get in on the act. Where's their shoes? They didn't want to get them dirty... so for the next week, they'll have purple toes!

He's got the whole world in his hands...

The children just adore their youngest cousin, Isaac. He is a doll. And so sweet natured. There's always a fight to see who gets to hold him.

Well, Joe. That's about all the news. I could tell you about the deal I found on organic cotton sheets- sweet! Or the hummingbird feeder that actually works. Still haven't spotted a hummer, yet. Our day at Miss Sandy's pool, where I sat in the shade but still caught some rays- how does that happen? Or Abe's latest funny saying- "What's the point of being the man of the house when it's just me and my mother?" What am I, chopped liver? But I see his point. Hope everyone had a wonderful week!

Pass the strings, please...

Been sewing string blocks for a while now- Just 10 or 20 at a time, when the spirit moves me and the strip bin seems to have a goood variety in it. My Mama even pitched in and sewed several for me. That makes it extra special. I need about 20 more, 7" blocks to complete this queen sized quilt. We're going to have a movie night real soon and let the kids rip the phone book pages off the backs- for some reason, they find this quite a thrill and they like to race and see who gets the most done. Shall I complain? I think not. One of the side effects of making these is more crumbs in the crumb basket- which was getting pitifully low. Now I can make more crumb blocks as I want to make a queen sized quilt with only crumbs- that'll be a heavy one for sure. But I like the scrappy look from edge to edge without muddle-ing it up with sashing and borders and such. Hope everyone is having a great week. It's off to the thrift store for me and then Wally world. oh joy.