Ahhhh... now doesn't that feel good!?

A new picture, a new post. Sarah said she was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen again. She even called to make sure I was still alive and kickin'. Well, I'm alive. Kickin'? Maybe kickin' and screamin'. Have you read her blog about the 6 weird things about Sarah? I'm laughing my head off about her staying awake at night trying to figure them out!! And her weird things were so... honestly, weren't they normal? Just goes to show that opposites attract- 'cause we're very good friends and I'm pretty sure I could come up with more than 6 things that are weird about me right off the top of my head! And they don't keep me up at nights, either! I bet Sarah could name more than a dozen. Not that we'd want her to share with the whole world everything she knows.

We did make a trip to the ER, this week. But it wasn't me, it was DD Eva. She's fine, but things got a little dicey with her meds. Tummy 'flu just isn't conducive to keeping things in your system. All's well that end's well. It was too much to hope for that I would escape unscathed. And if we're honest here, living in dread is... well, dreadful. I'd just rather do it and get it over with. So I did. I slept for 48 hours. and I'm feeling better. Now that I know I've already had the plague that's hitting everybody else in the house, I can concentrate on getting something done in regards to our trip... in three days!! No, I'm not panicking. I leave that for the last 12 hours. No need to rush things. And how on earth would anybody ever be ready for such a cataclysmic event? Much less me?

My Mom and Dad came by and spent the night on their way home from Missouri. My Dad promised God that if He would get him out of there, he'd never go back again. My Dad is a man of his word, so I guess he'll never see Missouri again. They're just not the touristy type- but went to see family. They'd rather be home- Dad rootin' around in the garden and Mom with her paint brushes. She picked up her "Midnight on Mars" quilt. She seemed happy with it and family are likely to tell you differently if such is the case. It took four people to hold it down(three behind the quilt) as the wind was threatening to carry it off- and DS Daniel was whining about getting blown off his chair- featherweight! And it wasn't even "windy."

I'm still not finished with... I'm enhancing my calm...the flowergirl dresses. When you guys see how simple these are, you'll be rolling your eyes and callin' me a big ole crybaby. But I have about figured it out... it's the blue. A lovely shade of blue. But, blue makes me moody. Moodier. Just one weird thing about me. I plan on finishing them, today. There's still 9 hours left. I could do it. And won't it feel so nice to slip the cover over them and say, "Done!" Yes, yes, very nice. For now, I am procrastinating by baking. Another weird thing. I power bake when I should be sewing. I made a "picnic cake"- a very old recipe with bananas and marshmallows. They get all toasty on top...mmm... Then we made a lemon pound cake- Daniel's favorite- to make up for the featherweight jibe. We glaze ours. (1/2 c. oj concentrate, 1/4 c. butter, 2 c. powdered sugar, boil one minute and pour over hot cake.) A tablespoon of lemon rind is extra good, too, but we're just simple country cooks, Captain, not a doctor. Good thing I'm over the tummy 'flu, huh? Made a pot full of chili for hotdogs and an Asian chicken salad, too.

Need to get some labels made for the quilts I've finished and plan on handing out in the next couple weeks. Four in all. I made some 8x11" Bubble Jet sheets, and now I have a sneakin' suspicion that I'm running low on printer ink. Ain't that how it always is? Ah well, I'll make do... Maybe there's some blue ink left... Now... before I lose my nerve, I'm gonna rip off this apron, and go out to the sewing room and tackle those dresses. Adorable dresses.

Wayne Sneath, wherever you are...
Thank you very much!! Across the aisle from my Uncle Greg's quilt- at the Chicago Quilt Show, there was a very interesting quilt. It's the tiny little stars on the top. Decided I needed a picture to share with you all. In case you didn't know it, there are strict restrictions about taking pictures of the art quilts at quilt shows. The traditional quilts are open to pics. Typically. So I stand back and snap a picture of this one... there came a deep voice in my ear, "That'll be $5." I about jumped out of my skin. I figured that $5 was a pretty reasonable penalty for taking a forbidden picture. The guy starts to laugh when he sees my startled expression. This was his quilt and he was getting a kick out of people's reactions. This quilt was called "Singing In The Rain." One of the center blocks(1") in the stars had a tiny couple with an umbrella. The cornerstones in this quilt were 1/4" squares- just to give you an idea of the scale. Well, Wayne and I struck up a conversation- one thing that Sarah and I have in common- we can talk to anybody, and frequently do. I'd say Wayne is about 60 years old and he described himself as a novice quilter- been quilting 4 years, he said. I'd say he's some kind of prodigy novice! The following two quilts are also his. He's from Northfield, Illinois. He was a delightful person. Very Charming. The Singing quilt reminded me of Lucy, and Dawn.

I've been playing nursemaid, these past few days. The three youngest angels have a been quite sick, but they have been so sweet I hardly mind being up most of each night. They share a room and I am so hopeful that they are the only ones to succumb to it. I don't know how I'll avoid it. Eva says, "Don't forget to wash your hands, Mommy!" She's a little mother hen. The "bb's" complicate things for me. Shouldn't be a big deal, the stomach 'flu. 24 hours of misery and then on the mend. Doesn't seem to work that way- it's the ER or the ICU and I really don't have time for that, right now! I've got places to go and people to see! So I'm running around trying to get everything done as soon as possible so that if the "last minute" becomes the "impossible to get it done" I won't be completely forlorn. And you know how it is when you are surrounded by sickies- it's hard not to feel the need to sleep with a bucket, 'cause you know you feel a bit "off" yourself! So far, so good. Waking each morning, intact. shew! Taking my vitamins and getting out in the sunshine. DH felt sorry for me, today, and even took me out to lunch- been stuck in the house for a while. Not something I actually mind, but it's nice to eat a meal I didn't have to cook. Yes, Sarah, we went to Ming's.

So things I'm doing...I finished Aunt Eva's quilt, Marianne's quilt, Michael and Rosemary's quilt, 8 rows done on Sarah's quilt(5 to go), the flower girl dresses are coming along. I just can't bring myself to work on them for too long at a time. They take a lot out of me. Need to sew the crinolins in and hem them and then still need to put the zippers in. hmm. Oh, got the flower beds weeded and even planted a bunch of tiger lilies. You see, the field next to ours has thousands of Tiger lilies by it. And every year, the farmer mows them down. Never gives them a chance. So I figured that if he wants them gone, I could do my part to help. So DH and DS #1 & #2 go down there with shovels and dug me up a few. Not even a drop in the bucket. He still has plenty to mow all summer long. But I planted them around the outside of my garden fence. The girls helped. And I cleaned my room- I once heard someone say that the condition of the master bedroom was very telling- as if it were a judgment that you don't value yourself if your bedroom is a disaster. Well, it might just mean that you put everything else before your bedroom. And I even cleared a path through the closet. And I scrubbed two toilets(Until you have 6 sons, you can't begin to imagine how filthy... I know I have never seen a more disgusting sight in any gas station, in my life!) I let them have it!! It had better not come to that EVER again. Then there was the 3 bathroom sinks and the 1 whirlpool and the 1 bathtub. And 5 loads of laundry. Would have been more, but I got a little discouraged after DH left his chapstick in his pocket! That stuff just leaves these oily little marks all over everything and it all has to be sprayed and put through, again. I didn't have that much fun doing it the first time, and I kinda lost my momentum. Now I'm headed to bed so that I'll feel all fresh and ready to go when they wake me up at 2 am. Nighty night!

Relay for Life...
This quilt was made by Judy. She is struggling with Pancreatic cancer. She wanted to make a quilt for the American Cancer Society- for them to raise money by selling or auctioning it. This is a picture of Tanya- she is the owner of the Quilter's Toy Box in Muncie, Indiana. (Darcie- I know you wanted to see the inside of the Toy Box, but this is the best I could do. What you see is maybe 20% of her shop.) She very generously donated the fabric for Judy to make the quilt. I quilted it for her. Both Tanya and I have sisters who have had cancer, so we were happy to help her. Who hasn't been touched by cancer? Unfortunately, Judy was unable to finish the quilt as her chemo treatments have left her really weak. Tanya was able to find some friends to finish the top for her. I received the top a few days ago, and I was afraid I would be unable to finish it before I left for Florida and that Judy would not be here when I got back. (While I am avoiding the packing for this trip, getting 10 people ready for a 10-day vacation is a daunting task!) We all decided that a simple quilting design would still be alright and allow us to finish the quilt more quickly. It is being bound, today. Tanya and her friends also pieced the backing out of the scraps that Judy had left over and I thought you all would enjoy seeing it. That backing is very typical of Tanya. As a quilter, I am not as fond of a pieced backing 'cause it can give you grief on the quilting frame- the batting can get hung up on it and cause creases and also, the seams kinda stand at attention and can make a bump on the front. But it's frugal and definitely gives a quilt extra personality. Judy is donating it to the Relay For Life.

One for Aunt Isobel...
just to prove I haven't a shred of pride, dignity or self-respect. Here's my flower garden for the world to see. Poor Dad. Cringing in utter despair. Naked of mulch. Need to mulch, but with the trip to Florida coming up, it isn't in the budget. I once bought mulch by the dump-truck full. It wasn't a good experience. The first load was filled with pieces as large as my arm- I said, "That might be called mulch around here, but where I come from, it's called kindlin'." I'm still turning it over in the flower beds. I figure that in another 10 years or so, it'll compost down. So they brought another load- ground so fine... I said, "They might call that mulch around here, but where I come from it's called pottin' soil." Weeds loved it. The next load was just right, but by the time I got it... I was just too tuckered out to move the mountain of stuff to the proper location. Eventually did, but that's history and now I need to start all over. Amazing how much easier it is to weed and work in a garden when you're not pregnant. I am so amazed. No, I did not have a load of rocks delivered for the borders. I dug each of those out of the ground, myself. When I was pregnant. I don't particularly like stone borders 'cause the weeds love to grow up around them...oh, that's right...mulch. But the stones help the sweet youngin's stay out of the flowers. Those purple flowers are money plants that my mom brought me from WV. They are the first thing to bloom. The strawberry plants are all up and spreading. Why are the strawberry plants in the flower garden? Jacob got a strawberry plant from his Sunday school teacher and we just set it in the flower garden, since there was only one plant. He lovingly tended it, but... Well, every March- on the first warm day, I get the urge to hoe- willy nilly, and I wacked up his beloved strawberry plant- forgot it was there. So I replaced it with another one. Next year- oops! Did it again... Well, he was so heart broken... I bought maybe a dozen to try and make it up to him... and now there are many more and I am thinking that we might need to make a strawberry patch out by the garden like what Grandma used to have.

Are we sure it's not Monday?
seems like Monday. I'm slow starting and I have loads to do. Here is a picture of the eggs we made with 15 pounds of peanutbutter fudge and 6 pounds of chocolate. The eggs contained about a cup of fudge, each, so they were monster eggs. I'm thinkin' I do everything BIG! So there you go Jane, enjoy. No calories and no fat. When I told my mom what I had done, she asked what I was going to do with them- I could tell she was holding her breath. Like most moms, she's the food police. I'm glad I could allay her fears and that all of the eggs left the house- I kept 2 for the kiddos and yes, I had a nibble and they were quite tasty. Guilty?... no, not really. I have a keychain that says,"I'd stop eating chocolate, but I'm no quitter!"

Are we sure its not Friday?
Feels like Friday. I'm feeling like a celebration and all I want to do is play! Lookee what I found on my sewing table when I got home from work, yesterday!! What fun! And an "I love you" post-it-note on the machine. I guess I can't have any doubts about that one, huh? True love is a new sewing machine... lacks poetry, but I think most of you would agree. This is the Singer 301. It is the big sister to the Featherweight. Doesn't she just look like a big sister? Very buxom. No offense to big sisters everywhere. I needed to swap out the bobbin that came with it, and it works great, now. The cord is needing some attention- might get zapped if I wiggle the cord wrong- but what's a little zapping compared to the joy of sewing?

Happy Birthday Jake!
Jacob is 13. He's DS #3. His birthday was yesterday, but since it was already a holiday, we decided to postpone until today. Of all my children, he is the most difficult to describe in words. He is creative- he built me a beautiful bedside table- long and narrow, with only three legs, but very stable. He loves to cook and even has a notebook dedicated to his favorite recipes. Personality-wise... it's hard to say. He is more easy than my other children. He is considerate and thoughtful. He notices things. When he was only 2 he quit taking naps- but stayed in bed the entire 2 hours- daydreaming. He has never needed anybody to keep him company, but he is very sociable. He loves being outdoors and hiking and swinging from trees. He has the type of personality that catches subtle humor when it passes by everyone else. He's the kind of kid other people notice and offer him business cards, so he can call them when he's grown and apply for a job. He's goofy and playful. Determined and driven. And now he's a teenager. Gulp. And we love him to pieces.

There are moments in time...
when you catch a glimpse of what your children will grow up to become. When Joseph was about 10 months old, I can still see him so clearly standing on fat, wobbly legs, looking out the storm door. The sun was shining on his face and his full lips were pursed in concentration and it hit me- this child of mine will someday be a man. The moment I saw 2 year old Daniel running in the sunshine, with mischief in his wide eyes, as his daddy sprayed him with the garden hose- it hit me, I can see the man in him. Well, I'm crying now as I look at these pictures and I realize that they are who I saw... only better. I am still seeing the men they will someday be, but they seem so very, very close now. It is quite a jolt. This is before their first big night out- they just went together. Buying the suits was easy- the shoes, another matter. They wear size 12 and 13. Now that, I didn't see!