Asher

New members of the family!

Joshua

Two sweet boys were born into the family, this month.  I've two new, very handsome, great-nephews and I'm just pleased as punch- like I had anything remotely to do with it!  

Joshua looks so much like his daddy and grand daddy it's amazing!  I have yet to meet him as he lives in Florida.  My nieces(his aunties) are visiting next week... maybe I could talk them into a little kidnapping scheme... ya think his momma and daddy would notice?  Yeah, you're probably right.  But what's a great auntie to do?

My great-nephew, Asher, was born yesterday.  Isn't he just the juiciest thing?  We are keeping his two older brothers while mommy and daddy cuddle the new one.  I have to say that I am enjoying myself, intensely!  Bill says, "You're so good with children... maybe we shouldn't have stopped!"  Whoa cowboy!  Let's not get carried away!  And kinda funny the near surprise in his voice that I could hold my own with little ones- I did have a few of my own, ya know! But it's sweet to have little ones around the house, again.  Children, what a blessing!

Woohoo!  Finally!

Saturday, Already?

How did that happen?  The way of things, I suppose.  I had a good week. Got the pool set up, finally.  Will, my hero.  He worked so hard. The water was delivered, yesterday.  Of course the two youngest had to jump right in.  It was inexpressibly cold, but that didn't stop them from having a wonderful time. I put my feet in and between the cold water and the hot sunshine, it was very pleasant. As you can see, the pool sits on our back lot and is in the middle of pretty much nowhere. Just the breeze rustling in the corn to keep you campany.  And now the shouts and squeals of excited kids.  It's all good. I guess they stayed in almost two hours before the shivering and the chattering teeth sent them into the house. Funny how not having air conditioning isn't a big deal...

"that's what I'm talkin' about!"

The breakfast of champions... Bacon and freshly ground and brewed coffee.  Jacob is old-school.  He has an antique coffee grinder and insists it makes the best coffee.  And the bacon he got at work, where, who knows?  He might have been acquainted with the pig while it still stood on four feet. That guy loves his bacon. 

smile!

Lilly has a pool her own size.  Abe got her a pot of water to pour on the sand to make it easier to play in... it was no time at all before she dove into the pot.  And look how pleased she is with herself!  She is the older daughter of Jason and Lindsay B. and they came for dinner the other night.  We hadn't done that in a long time. So, you guys make the effort look up some old friends and have them over.  It's not as hard as you think and it's well worth the effort.

Isn't that a silly and fun quilt?  I have no idea of the name or designer.  I quilted it for Glenda J. and she did a wonderful job of sewing it up.  Can I just say, that is way, way too much applique for a simple girl like me.  To each her own.  I have a "Grandmother's Flower Garden" on the frame, now, and the red snappers made that a much easier job as the edges of that quilt has that uneven design of hexagons.

I'll hopefully, be quilting, wading, babysitting and sewing, today, with some cleaning and gardening thrown in there, somewhere.  Have a great weekend! 

Morning Folks!

Absolutely no sewing this past week.  Well, not absolutely no sewing.... I did piece a backing for a client... but I really don't think that should count. It ranks right up there with sewing curtains in my book- boring! Oh, and I mended a shirt for my nephew- a two inch tear.  Again, hardly noteworthy.  I have a more open week than usual and hope that the sewing machine will not be such a stranger. (Though, "open" is a comparative term.)  Nothing specific in mind, but I'm pretty sure something will come to mind, dontcha think?

We've been working, sweatily, on getting a pool set up.  Is "sweatily" a word?  Well, it certainly is accurate in this case.  Sandy gave us a pool and we have been trying to get it set up.  Three times we had to set the walls up.  I was beginning to feel some resentment towards Sandy as our laboring seemed to be in vain.  But we are finally reaching the end of the battle and I sure hope it'll be worth it!  The little children are extremely excited.  I think the big guys will be too, once it is set up.  Presently, they are traumatized by the amount of excruciating suffering involved. Truly an ordeal.

I walked into the house the other day and these two pairs of shoes just made me smile.  Mary Ann wears her boots just about everywhere and there they were plopped right next to Jacob's shoes.  I just thought the comparison was funny.  Jacob wears combat-styled boots most often, but for comfort, he says these can't be beat.  I don't think I want something between my toes, but everyone I've spoken with that owns a pair similar to these, agrees that they are extremely comfortable.

Well, the rooster is crowing and that garden won't hoe itself. Have a great day!  I'm plannin' on it!

Happy Thursday!

My favorite day of the week.  Maybe I start my weekends early... I've had a stellar week.  Been very busy, but in a "things I wanna do" way instead of a "things I have to do" way. 
Sweet William teaches a Bible class at the prison and about twice a year, I make cookies for them.  So, Monday and Tuesday I baked.  I made chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, chocolate w/white chips and macadamia nuts, peanutbutter and gingersnaps.  I also made oreo balls and peanutbutter smoothie treats.  I doubled, tripled, and quadrupled the recipes and the oreo balls, I made six batches.  All in all, two banana boxes full. That was a lot of baking.  How is it, that the oven does all the work, yet, I'm tired?  So for a break, I stained my swing.  It looks very fresh and pretty. One of my favorite places to be. Two days in a row of not going anywhere.  It was intensely pleasurable. 

I made a jumper for each of the girls- just something loose and comfy for wearing around the house and playing in. So I got to sew.  Score!  They were so surprised and thrilled.  I love seeing that in my children. Unfortunately, Eva has been a little under the weather.  She has some swollen lymph nodes, a sore throat and fluid in her ears, but the doctor thinks her own immunities will thrash it out.  She did nearly pass out on Monday evening.  Not fun for any of us.  She simply said, "Dad, I'm not feeling so good." and we all turned to look at her and the boys are like, "Whoa!" and Will and I both yelled, "Lay down!" She was positively gray.  I think she was just trying to do more then she was really up to.  After a huge jar of ice water and a shower, she seemed fine and she's doing better every day, now. 

I know it's not Friday, but I want to talk about one of my favorites.  Twilight watering.  I absolutely LOVE to water my garden and flowers when the sun has set and the air is cooler.  The lightening bugs are started to gently drift up from the corn fields.  Just lovely.  So quiet and peaceful.  The sound of the water splashing and feeling the coolness of it on my feet.  Like I'm a a plant in the garden, soaking it up.  You can even hear the plants and  flowers sigh.  You go ahead and try it- but ya gotta be barefoot.  Ya gotta be.
    

The weather is a trial.  It hasn't rained in a month, the grass is all brown and crunchy.  The varmints are more bothersome than usual- I lost count of the chipmunks, mice and shrews we've caught.  John could tell you as he gets paid 50 cents for each one.  Will shot 7 groundhogs. Moles are everywhere.  It's a nuisance to us, but I can't help feeling sorry for them as they have no water on tap. Below is a bird bath we set out.  A country birdbath and hardly picturesque, but the birds don't seem to be picky. I dump it on the flowers in the evening and refill it with fresh.  The seeds I planted are slow growing. But growing, all the same.  The garden is a dust bowl, but we water each little plant in the evenings and mornings and I'm quite proud of them for doing so well.  Of course, I avert my eyes from others' gardens that have ready access to water. (It's funny how people laugh and say, "Oh, we've already had two pots of beans from our garden." And, again, they laugh.  Is that nice?  I don't think so. I find it very anti-amusing.) Ours is watered one bucket at a time.  30 lbs per bucket. I need to have John devise me some sort of yoke as it's a fair walk to the garden and while my arms are getting a workout, my shins are taking a banging.
 

Well, folks, that's all the news that's fit to print.  In a manner of speaking. I'm having another day at home here.  Woohoo.  Who knows, I may be able to squeeze another day home this week.  Doesn't that sound deliscious?

A lizard named Abraham

Apologies...

Guys, I am so sorry!!  I didn't mean to be away for so long. Sometimes that's just how it goes, I guess. Again, I am sorry.

We've been up to quite a bit, lately.  Summer things.  We got the garden planted.  You'd be so proud of me, I only planted 25-30 tomatoes and the corn and green beans I reduced by about a third.  Rather glad I did as we are in the middle of a drought.  When we hoe- 'cause weeds aren't as affected by dry weather- plumes of dust raise off the garden.  So sad.  There is just no way to water that much garden, effectively. I feel like I'm on one of those survival shows, rationing out water. A cup here, a cup there. Choosing which plant lives and which might die.  Sure could use some rain.  God's will, though.  Abe was "helping" me weed around the flowers.  I thought he looked rather like a lizard on that rock. It was a lovely morning and a good time to lay around in the sun.

paper pieced zipper bag

Did I mention my sissies came for a visit?  We had such a good time, as always.  It is a real joy to have them come. Just sitting around talking, eating out and talking some more. I made this little zipper bag while they were here.  (And I, vaguely, remember sewing something else... I just can't remember what...)  This little bag is only about 2 1/2"x4" and is for the dreaded glucose meter.  But it makes me smile when I get it out, so it's all good.

Jacob and Mary

Jacob, son #3, became engaged, this week.  Now that's big news, isn't it? Mary is a lovely young lady and we welcome her gladly into our family. One thing I have to say, is that our sons have impressed me thus far in their choice of important people in their lives.  It gives me peace and helps me feel like we didn't mess up, too bad.  Jacob just got a new job as a meat cutter at a local butcher shop.  He gets to work with sharp knives, so I think he's gonna like it! They are planning a October wedding.

Melanie and Daniel

And while I'm showing off my sons' good taste in women, I love this picture of Daniel, son #2, with his sweetheart, Melanie.  And she is a real sweetheart.  Such a dear, gentle spirit. Daniel has plans to move to Boston in the Fall and so, coincidentally, he'll be nearer to her and her family who live in New Jersey. In the mean time, he's putting a whole lot of miles on that car of his.
 

Red Snappers

In quilty world... Lookee what I got for my birthday!  You know my sweet William.  He heard me mention these really cool "Red Snappers" that I saw in a local quilt shop a few weeks ago.  He did some investigating and scheming with Sandy and bought them for me.  He took me out to lunch and before we go in, he pulls a gun case out of the back of the van.  He's looking all sheepish and says, "How am I gonna sell this?  But this one is just for you." And I'm thinking, "That man will use any excuse to buy a gun!" Of course, when I open it... I was greatly surprised and not a little relieved. For all those long armers out there, I have a feeling you might like these, too.  They are plastic tubes that slide into a casing at the end of your leaders and then there's these split tubes that snap over them and hold the quilt in place while you quilt.  No more pinning!  (You get a few shorter split tubes to hold it all in place until you snap the longer ones on).  Way cool.  I thought Sarah over at www.alwayswantstobequilting.blogspot.com would especially like them as she absolutely hates to pin quilts on.  I don't think it's such a bad job, but it is time consuming and eats into quilting time. But then, I actually like to bind quilts so there's no accounting for the things we like and dislike.  Sandy got me a new ruler.  She visits and sews with me from time to time and she's been appalled at the condition of my old ruler.  But, hey, I've had that ruler for 12 years and maybe I was emotionally attached.  Maybe.  All the markings were rubbed off but I could still tell where to cut, mostly.   

Speaking of things quilty... I might get out there and actually sew. Its been a couple weeks.  Do you think I remember how?  

reaching 210* Fahrenheit

Wednesday Whine of the Week...

Deep breath. Yes, let's try that again. Inhale, exhale. Where to start?

About 9 months ago, my medical insurance company decided that one of my medical supplies was too expensive- my test strips for my glucose monitor. Now, it isn't like they refused to pay for them. They would pay for them, eventually, but... so long as everyone jumps through their seemingly arbitrary hoops. Deep breath.

1. So, the Dr writes the Rx. 
2. The pharmacist submits the Rx. 
3. The insurance refuses the Rx. 
4. The pharmacist contacts the Dr's office and requests what is called a "prior authorization.".
5. The Dr submits the required prior authorization paperwork to the insurance company. 
6. The insurance approves the Rx.
7. The pharmacist waits a day and resubmits the Rx and hopefully everything has happened in the correct sequence and the prescription is filled.

Not once has that happened. Not once.

Now, does anyone else see a flaw in the process? There are a whole lot of places for the ball to be dropped. And how would anyone know who had dropped said ball in order to rectify the game playing? And so there might be a delay in the process.  For this reason, I try to start early. But then there's the issue of the insurance company not even considering the Rx request until they deem it's time to be refilled and the ball can't even start rolling until that time. You can't do the prior authorization prior to needing the prior authorization. Kooky. Then there's weekends and such. Days when the Dr's office is closed. Days when the insurance company loses paper work. I have to say, my pharmacist is amazing- along with the staff there. The other two variables are...variable and considerably less trustworthy.

It all sounds like a complicated whine about a simple problem, right? But there are some serious ramifications. See, I can't give up on these particular strips and settle for the less expensive strips/monitor that the insurance company will pay for the first go around.  The glucose monitor I have is connected to my insulin pump via radio waves. It's a package deal. The pharmacist understands this. But unfortunately, the nurse at the Dr's office doesn't and the insurance company obviously doesn't. Every month, I have to explain and explain. I even changed Drs because the nurse had to be hounded and reminded of that every month. Several times. And now, the new nurse says she'll get to it and it'll take a few days...???? I don't have a few days once it becomes clear that they didn't get things straight the first time. Life's a chump. 

Now that's the real problem. When your body doesn't make insulin, ya need to know where you're at in order to take care of that, manually. If ya don't know if you're high or low... Well, honestly, I don't want to die, not like that, not today.

( And ya know what? That pharmacist deserves something really special. He gave me almost a month's worth of strips using an old prescription on file. No charge, 'cause the Dr's office and the insurance company were dragging their feet. Any suggestions for an appropriate gift for service above and beyond the call of duty? )

I am just stumped. Stumped, I tell ya. Maybe today will be the day when everything works like it should.  That would be proof positive that I have entered an alternate reality.  Just way too unrealistic.

And guess what? Yesterday, the Dr mistakenly left the quantity empty on my insulin Rx. According to my pump, I have less than 24 hours... Head banging on desk. Over and over and over.

old fashioned iris

peach iris

peony

Friday Favorites...

I skipped Wednesday's Whine of the Week.  I'm winding up for a whine of epic proportions, so stayed tuned for a doozy, next week.

Aren't spring flowers incredible?  Love it!  After the dull winter months to see all that color bursting forth. Amazing!  Gets me all inspired for gardening.  We've been working hard in the flower garden.  Moving plants, removing weeds.  Rearranging the "furniture"- huge rocks and boulders. One of them weighed more than John and me, combined.  But with the help of a crowbar and a dolley we managed.  I'm sure it looked pretty comical, like trying to find your balance on a teeter-totter when the other person weighs more than you!  We're both pretty sore, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel- and I feel confident it's not a train.  John has been a huge help to me, though he does get a bit hesitant when he isn't sure that I'm sure.  Who likes to move things repeatedly?  He dug up my pond and we're trying to get it into its new location.  It's a pretty big pond and this is its third location.  But Daniel installed it the other two times so I don't know what his problem is. kids.

jelly roll quilt that needs to be altered for me

I love this quilt I saw in a quiltshop, recently.  Like the colors and the design. Unfortunately,  the pattern calls for using jelly rolls.  I hate that.  Is cutting 2" strips that hard?  And I dislike sewing little squares to strips and then cutting off the excess.  I just don't enjoy that- Id rather use squares and HSTs.  Just me. I'm gonna graph it out and make my own pattern for it. It's simple enough.  Aren't the colors great?

monkey bread by a monkey

early morning snuggle

bekah's beauty salon

When did my little ones get to be so big?  Bekah is my Betty Homemaker.  She made Monkey bread the other night and it got rave reviews.  Abe loves to snuggle- and since he is such a little furnace Eva is more than happy to oblige.  The mornings are still quite chilly.  They look like little puppies.  And I like to watch the girls fix each others' hair.  A sure sign they are growing up when they don't need me to do it for them.  Though they still come to me when they want something a little more complicated than a braid. 

That's some of my favorites: flowers, quilts and kids. You all have a great weekend and I'll catch you on the flip side.