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.

never too much orange! Love how the quilting turned out

My Mundane Monday...

Lovely morning!  There's a heavy fog on the prairie and while that may not sound like all that great of a start to a day... it's very rare here and so a refreshing change.  I took a couple small quilts to the post office, this morning, and guess what?  I wore my house cleaning clothes and an apron!  I seriously considered putting on town clothes but then I thought... for a one mile trip to the post office that's in the middle of nowhere??  nah. Going against propriety can be very refreshing, too.  And getting something in the mail?  Well, you know how postally challenged I am, so another refreshing event.  Good all the way around.  (While at the post office, I noticed a really pretty lab roaming around.  When I returned home- it turned out to be mine!  She'd managed to get out of her kennel.  But bless her heart, she found her way home in no time.  shew!)

happy spring!




Did I get enough bright colors in there, ya think?

This is the bedrunner I made for a friend who recently had surgery. (Actually, Lisa and I made it.  She cut out the circles for the centers of the flowers and she would want her accomplishment properly acknowledged.) I thought Kelli could use something cheerful on her bed.  A bedrunner lays across the bed- top, middle, bottom or even vertically.  It looks like a table runner only much larger- this is long enough for a king-size bed and about 25" wide. Hard to take a picture of it and I had to set it out in the yard and stand on the picnic bench.  I could have put it on my bed but then I woulda had to clean my room and anybody that knows me knows that ain't likely to happen.  Not today. While quilting it, Lisa discovered that I don't plan these things out.  In the words of the joker in The Dark Night, "Do I look like a man with a plan?"  Nope.  I just stand there staring at it, sit there staring at it.  Do a little bit and then stand, sit and think some more.  It all came out very nice, I think, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got the pattern from Kim Schaefer's Skinny Quilts.  I modified it, but that's a very, very nice book and I just love her patterns.       

blue baby





Courthouse steps made easy!  Love this pattern and the construction of it is uber easy. I especially thought my Mom would like it as she is making more baby quilts these days- but its so quick, a full size quilt would be a cinch.  There are two blocks in this quilt that are made the same- just with a different color configuration.  The light square is made from both light and dark strips and the dark square is of all darks(or in this one, I just used blues that I liked in all shades and it works fine.) And it's a great way to use up some of those 2" strips!

block A

block B with color coordinated toes! 

 
Block A:

• one 3 1/2" square for center

of the 2" strips cut:

• 2 dark 3 1/2"
• 2 light & 2 dark 6 1/2"
• 2 light and 2 dark  9 1/2"
• 2 light 12 1/2"

Block B:

• one 3 1/2" square for center

of the 2" strips cut:

• 2 dark 3 1/2"
• 4 dark 6 1/2"
• 4 dark 9 1/2"
• 2 dark 12 1/2"

Easy peasy. I like this block better than the log cabin block because you can sew strips on both side of the block before having to head to the ironing board.  Much faster and I think they come out more square that way, also.  I love scrappy quilts, but I'll give a tip to those of you who have a hard time making it work for you.  I think it really helps to have some consistency in the quilt- like the center blocks are the same fabric.  Kinda ties it all together and makes people think you actually planned it that way- which you did!

God's orange flower- perfection!

5 out of 6 sons at the movies- looks like more than 5 sets of legs.

Back in the Saddle...

My son and a few others have mentioned that it's been a month since I last posted here at Prairiequilts.  Sorry about that.  Sometimes life just isn't conducive to blogging.  It's like I tell my endocrinologist when I'm not doing what she feels I need to do, "Let's not confuse my noncompliance with ignorance."  In other words, there are things I know I should do and things that I would like to do but this is the real world and life has a way of getting in the way.  And its all good, just different.  How's that for a completely nonsensical excuse?  But I thought it might sound better than the same ole "I was busy" routine.

  My oldest, Joe, and his wife, Laurie, were here for over a week in April.  Having them here for a longer amount of time is just wonderful. Daniel- son #2 and Mary...um, "friend" of son #3, even got to come for a couple days so we had a great time.  Guess what?  Both of my clothes dryer doors stay closed without having to have anything propped up against them!  How cool is that?  Joe is very handy.  It took him longer to find the parts than it took him to install them.  So all my kids came for a visit and I'm zeroed in on my dryer doors working properly... well, you try jamming a baseball bat against a dryer door to keep it closed.  It takes skill and lots of practice to make that thing stay wedged in place.  So now I just shut the door and >Voila!< the door stays shut!  Amazing!  And it happens every day.  All day.  And we do a lot of laundry so it's a constant reminder that Joe loves me and wants to make things easier for me.  So it isn't just a little thing, is it?

funnel cake

elephant ears

Fried dough... it's just one of those things that say...well, I don't know what it says exactly, but I like it's language!  My sweet daughter in law had never had funnel cake or elephant ears.  Now that was just sad.  So, we had to rectify the situation and made them while she was here.  The jury decreed that they were both good and, in typical Laurie fashion, she was unable to determine which one was more to her liking. So we had to sample a whole lot of each... and none of us came to a clear decision.  Personally, I like the elephant ears more- they have yeast so that puts paid on it in my book. Recipes available if ya need them- just email.

birthday kids

everybody after the pinata was decimated

Jacob and Mary had their birthday last month.  Jacob says that she was his first birthday present as she was born on his first birthday.  Her family came up and we had a fun day of a trip to the bowling alley and knocking a pinata around (Lupe tried to teach us the song you should sing while hitting said pinata... let me just say that when someone speaks a different language than you do and they say, "Just follow along" it gets a little confusing.  So we'd sing something like this..."lalalalalala, pinata, lalalalala, pinata!" If we were the self-conscious types it could have been embarrassing.  But everybody knows we're not.) We had a nice meal and a cheesecake for dessert. Poor Mary had a bad cold, but she was a trooper.  Jacob made her go on a treasure hunt to find her presents- even made her dig a hole and climb a tree- but she easily forgave him when she found a complete tea set spread out on the porch table.

"Uncle" Jacob and James 

  We babysat my great nephews for an evening this week.  James had never been left behind, but he coped very well.  Whoever last fed him a spoon of rice became his favorite person.  If he wanted picked up, he'd go to that person- until being fed by another.  He knows the hand that feeds him. Isaac had a blast playing with race cars and the bunny rabbit.

Believe it or not, I kept it brief.  Tough to even begin to cover the goings-ons for a whole month.  I still have quite a few quilty projects to show, but they'll keep.  Have a great week and maybe...just maybe...I'll catch you on the flip side!

See?  15 year olds really can get sleepy... just not at night so much



only a guy...

Wednesday Whine of the week...

My kids have been home and some still remain... so really, I've nothing to whine about.  Well, now that I think of it... just kidding.

I like how John is color-co-ordinated with his blanket.  He fell asleep, studying.  Apparently, he forgot to drink his coffee that day. 

Will was on his way to the store and I made a last minute addition to the grocery list.  Chocolate chips.  So he brings home 10 bags.  Ten bags!  He's perfectly aware of how many bags it takes to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  And so there is no doubt, there's something on his mind.  Now, if I had only remembered to have him pick up butter...