Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Snow gone : (

The snow fell yesterday until around 6pm and then during the night it rained and when we woke up that snow was gone and only the Christmas Eve snow drifts remained. After reaching almost 60 degrees today, the snow is gone except for small amounts on the sides of the road that don't see the sun. I guess back to normal until the next surprise.

Blessings,

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

More Snow!

The snow didn't entirely melt before it started snowing again today. I took this picture Monday afternoon to show how the snow was still on the ground. There are still big snow drifts along the sides of the roads. We cannot remember EVER seeing snow like this in our part of Texas.








Then today around noon it started snowing again! Okay, this is weird.













I made a snowman ornament for our tree this year. Very fitting don't you think?







Sissy (also known as "Little Doggie") enjoyed the sunshine coming in the window Sunday and Monday.
















And she got a coat recently custom made by a lady I know. Sorry to wake you, Sissy.














I've been sewing on an apron and will post a picture soon.

Blessings,

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!




I wish you the very merriest of Christmases. A safe and healthy one as well.

We are having a WHITE one! Yes, we had snow. Boy, did we ever. Not so many inches as when it was falling but it was blowing. We had almost white out conditions, folks. In TEXAS! I don't live in Amarillo or anywhere near there. We woke up to rain then it changed to snow around 11am Christmas Eve morning and kept falling all day and stopped between 5:30 and 6pm.

The flakes were small. We have friends that live about 30 miles north of here and they have huge snow drifts. Ours are a foot and a half at best. The roads became covered in snow late in the day.


This photo was taken around noon yesterday.



This photo was taken around 5pm. I took both from inside the house from our dining room window looking southeast.

We called off our family Christmas gathering last night. DD had more snow than we did. She lives west of us and they got more snow out that direction.

DDIL is still doing good. The baby weighs a little over 3 pounds now. We are in week 29 now. Thank you for your prayers.

We traveled to visit our parents and family for a family gathering on the 19th. We took DGS Mason with us. And of course Sissy went, too. DD and her family didn't get to come. DGD Aimee woke up throwing up. Ewww. DS#1 got his okay from his doctor to drive that distance and he was overjoyed. He is doing well after his back surgery.

Blessings,

Monday, December 14, 2009

How is everyone?

Doing very well, I hope. I am wishing you a glorious and miraculous December. Totally filled with joy and blessings. We had a very cool start to our month but yesterday and today was balmy -- in the 70s.

Our DDIL is still hanging in there. She had a little episode last week. She went into labor and they immediately started administering an IV and the labor subsided.

We had our guild Christmas party this past Saturday. We had a lot of fun. We played Quilt Bingo. We had been given the instructions to make our Bingo "cards" at the November meeting. The instructions came from a past Fons & Porter Love of Quilting magazine. We used buttons we brought from home for the markers. Christmas ornaments were our prizes. Food--Oh, my goodness! Need I say more. We had made Christmas stockings for C.A.S.A. and baby quilts and items for our local pregnancy resource center and those were picked up by representatives from those organizations. Hopefully they enjoyed our fabric Bingo games and didn't think we were totally crazy!

I quilted a baby quilt last Friday on my quilt machine. Then sewed the binding on and finished the hand work last night. I wanted to practice some more. I have two quilts lined up to quilt for a customer before Christmas.



Today DH as I was hanging clothes on the line (gotta take advantage of the good weather) asked for help in herding pigs. He was moving four feeders (180 lbs. avg.) to another pen. They didn't WANT to go. What normally takes us maybe a half hour took several hours. They wanted to run. Back and forth; just not where they needed to go. So we had to wind up using the stock trailer to move them. And in the end it all worked. Yeah! I had had plans to load another quilt on the machine but duty called. Then there were errands to run. And then clothes to fold and the supper to make and another day done. Thank you, God, for the good day you gave us. Sunshine, time together, a roof over our heads, good food -- all of these I am thankful for.

Blessings,

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Snow




This is what we woke up to this morning. It is melting fast.

Blessings,
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Monday, November 30, 2009

I found a neat blog!

You gotta go visit this neat blog. They are having a giveaway on a wonderful blender. The recipes are awesome and there's tips, too. Check out the pie in a jar! Wonderful bread recipes, my personal favorite. Please go now.

Blessings,

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Back to the diet -- after the leftovers are gone!

Well, I had been doing really good with keeping the pounds I had lost off. But after eating all the Thanksgiving goodies I am a little afraid to step on the scales. I had lost 5 pounds. Woo hoo! It was feeling real good to have extra room in my jeans. And just as soon as the pumpkin pie is gone -- I am cutting the pieces smaller now to make it last longer -- I am going to cut down on portions again and eat a smaller evening meal. I promise.

On Friday DH, DS#1, DGS Mason and I went to our DD's house and had lunch with her family. It was good with her homemade pies for dessert. The weather was so nice so we all went outside. The grandkids blew bubbles and drew on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. Then they all had a need for speed! The older two got out their scooters (push type) and DGS Mason (two years old) borrowed DGD Aimee's dolly stroller and went up and down the driveway and sidewalk. Then it was time to go home so DH could check on his animals. We ate supper (for what reason I don't know--I was still full). I had cooked the turkey bones while we were gone so I made a quick soup by adding rice and opening a couple of cans of mixed vegetables and chopped turkey. There is just something about soup. Then DS#1 decided to go home and we all called it a night.

Then today I made waffles for breakfast. Could not entice DGS Mason to eat but a bite or two. He only eats when he wants to and if he doesn't want to he doesn't--period. He's not skinny but I do declare (I love saying that--it sounds so Southern.) I don't know what he eats to keep the meat on his bones. We had leftovers from our Thanksgiving dinner for lunch. Mason got a nap and then when he woke up we went out to play. I raked a big pile of leaves for him to jump in. He loved it. And of course the dogs got in on the action.
One ear up and one ear down. Sissy didn't quite know what to think about all the visitors. She is very good with DGS Mason.

The last quilty thing I have done? I put a binding on this quilt. And I had to straighten my sewing room because someone came over to pick up some notions. I had twenty minutes notice. You should've seen me flying around.

Blessings,

Sweet Potato Recipe

I found the recipe at Allrecipes.com and it is called Sweet Potato Cranberry Bake. I used pecans instead of the walnuts because that's what I had on hand and I had some canned crushed pineapple in the refrigerator left over from a cake I baked last week so I used that instead of the orange juice. I also cooked my sweet potatoes in the microwave instead of boiling them.

I could eat this all day long! I love it. Hope you enjoy.

Blessings,

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

It is such a wonderful thing to take time out and give thanks. We are grateful for so many things. And the most important aren't things. The most important are our family, our health, our country, freedom of worship, a roof over our head, food on our table, and all the good things in our life.

I got up early this morning and started cooking and had already cooked some yesterday. Our DS#1 came. We had the traditional (for us) Thanksgiving meal. Turkey, cornbread dressing (half bread, half cornbread), giblet gravy, sweet potatoes (new recipe this year--I like it), green beans, rolls (I tried a new recipe--everyone liked it.), pecan pie, pumpkin pie (one of Margie's 300 she raised), and cake. We took DS#2 and DDIL some to enjoy in the hospital and then brought DGS Mason home with us. He is asleep now. DS#1 is spending the night and going to go with us to visit DD and family tomorrow.

I really liked the sweet potatoes I made. The dish has sweet potatoes, cranberries, pineapple, brown sugar, and nuts. It is so pretty and tasty. I will post the recipe if anyone is interested. DH helped cut up the pumpkin and I cooked it. Roasted the pumpkin seeds and they were yummy. I make my own pie crust-- I love messing with the dough. We came home and ate some more. It was good all over again. I missed having DSIL Donna's spinach dish. So good. I would've made it if DD and family had come. DGS Mac loves spinach.

I told someone the other day when we saw Christmas decorations out and heard Christmas carols being sung that it was like skipping the "thanks" giving and going straight to the "giving" or in some cases "receiving". And I do know that there are people who really love Christmas. I am afraid the retailers are just too anxious to get the Christmas shopping going at full speed.

I am thankful for those read this blog. I am thankful to be able to read other's blogs. May you be truly blessed.

Blessings,

Monday, November 23, 2009

Update

DDIL is doing better. She has stabilized. No contractions. But she is in the hospital for the duration of her pregnancy. Bless her heart. She is confined to the hospital room--no wheelchair rides or anything. The baby weighs a little over a pound at this point. She has a laptop and is surfing the internet from time to time. Thank God for the internet. Thank you for your prayers.


Blessings,

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Hi

What's been going on with everyone? I know we have been busy. We finished painting the well house and have a couple of touch ups and we'll be done for good. We've had our first real cold front and a light frost.

Last Friday we went to Gainesville to the quilt show. Saw several ladies I knew. Always fun to run across fellow quilters from various areas. We went to the quilt shop, Past Times, and they were swamped. The poor ladies were cutting fabric as fast as they could and calling in help. DH had gone to the quilt show with me and also the quilt shop. He was the only man and he didn't seem to mind at all. He is learning a lot about quilting. :)

Please pray for our DDIL. She is in the hospital. She has just started into her sixth month in her pregnancy. She went for her regular visit with the OB and she had dialated between a 2 and 3. She had started having back pains.They are monitoring her. The baby is fine and she is fine. Please pray that our baby granddaughter will decide to stay in the womb for several more months.

DH went deer hunting and I decided to have a marathon working on my quilt club's scrapbooks. I had gotten behind. So I got all of 2008's book completed and will work on 2009 shortly. So nice to get that obligation done. Now on to other UFO's.

Blessings,

Monday, November 09, 2009

Working and having fun

We've finished painting the house. Yay! The well house is next. Prep work and then paint. But first came DGS Mason. We had him this past weekend. The weather was absolutely wonderful. So we spent all day Saturday outside working in the yard and running and playing. Digging in the dirt. Sliding down the slide. Trying to carry the almost ten pound cat around. Much to the dismay of the cat. Sorry my camera batteries were completely depleted. I was going to take a picture of him playing with the old Tonka toys that his daddy and uncle played with as little boys. He much preferred to dig in the dirt with one of my really large spoons and throw the dirt. And rub the dirt off his hands. Funny.


This picture is from one of his previous visits. He was trying to convince NaNaw that he could take a nap sitting on the sofa. NaNaw didn't fall for it.


Sissy went to sleep on DH's chair in this position!
She had two baths this weekend. The first was because she needed one and the second one was because she NEEDED one. She thinks she can do what the other dogs do. She rolled in fresh cow poo-poo. Yucky.

Blessings and happy quilting,

Monday, November 02, 2009

Painting

I am painting! DH and I painted today and got so much done. It is looking so good. Do you wear the paint for days? It is latex but you know how if it dries on it doesn't wash off very well at the end of the day, yeah, dried paint on my hands. It was warm today in the sun. Yes, we have sunshine, YES! We are forecast all week for 70's and sunshine. Thank you, Lord.

Blessings,

Saturday, October 31, 2009

I'm quilting



I am quilting! Don't look too closely at the quilting--I am very much still refreshing myself. This will be a C.A.S.A. quilt.



Another C.A.S.A. quilt. This is the one that was on the frame when the thread kept breaking. The colors aren't true. What looks blue is more turqoise.

 
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DH and Sissy. She is doing very well. She has gained weight and loves playing with her toy. Butterball has gotten to be a real "butterball"--he weighs 9 1/2 pounds and is six months old. We got a lot of painting done but have a lot more to go. This week looks good weather wise. The house is looking so good.

I plan on more quilting and more painting next week.

Blessings to all,

Friday, October 23, 2009

Hi again

Not much quilting going on yet but I hope to remedy that real soon. LOL I did get a Take 5 small quilt top pieced week before last. And we took my quilting machine to Denton to have a repairman look at it. The only thing he found wrong was the needle was in backwards. He said that would make it sew like it was out of time. I haven't quilted with it yet. Why? Well, we kept DGS Mason for several days while his parents were out of town. He had a cold and developed an ear infection. After an antibiotic and decongestant he is on the mend.

This has been the wetest(around 16 inches) October for our area in years and cooler too. It was in the lower 40's this morning. We have been getting the eaves and trim on the house ready for paint. Between rains. Tomorrow we plan on opening the paint buckets. We hope to get a lot done because we are forecast for more rain Sunday night and then later next week. My shoulder is sore from scraping this afternoon. I washed and hung out clothes. My clothes lines were full. Hanging clothes out has been challenging with the rain as well.

Oh, I found 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting blog while reading another blog (that's how I have found some really neat blogs!). She is a very talented quilter.

Sorry there are no pictures in this post. I will try and remedy that soon.

Blessings,

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

An Online Quilt Festival





Wanna see beautiful quilts and not leave your chair? Click on the button and it will take you to links of over OVER 500 quilts. Enjoy and thank Park City Girl.

Blessings,

Geta's Giveaways


You gotta go check out Geta's Giveaways. She is going to do monthly giveaways. How wonderful is she? Very! And talented and giving. She is also going to have monthly tutorials. How wonderful is that? Very! Click on the button and it will take you to Geta's blog and comment for a chance to win.


On another note. A sadder note. Lindi lost her mother this week. So please say a prayer for her and her family. Thanks.


Hey, remember our Darling Visitor from last year. I got a phone call from her tonight. I hadn't heard much from her in the last year. We talked and talked. She is doing pretty good. Could be better. I'm praying for her and if you feel God leading you to pray I would appreciate your prayers too.
Sissy got a haircut today. DH took her and picked her up. I'm telling you. Somebody needs to take his temperature; the aliens stole him and did something to him; this is too weird. My kids cannot believe this. He told me he wanted to get her for me because he thought I would like her. He's right. I do. But a month ago I would have told you I didn't have time; wasn't interested; blah, blah, blah. He knows me better than I do. Don't tell him I said that, okay.


Blessings and may all your ups and downs be with a needle and thread,

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Hi everyone!

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago. This is our Magnolia tree and these pods were such a pretty color.

We had two small quilt shows back to back. One last weekend in Post Oak--Hi, Post Oak ladies. It was a two day event and this year was my third year to have a booth there. We take the canopy and have an outdoor booth. I said we--DH went with me and was a wonderful big help. He helped set and take down. It was wonderful not to have to do it by myself. (He always sets the canopy up.) And he checked people out while I either cut fabric or helped a customer. He was a very good boy. Then this weekend we had our Wise County Quilt Guild Show. Friday we had a pre-show and reception with a lecture and trunk show by Margaret Bucklew of Chiseled in Cloth. She does quilted portraits and landscapes using Photoshop. And she does online classes! You gotta go look. Please do. It was very interesting. We had a good turn out Friday afternoon. Saturday was the show and again we felt like we had a very good turn out. There were so many activities over the weekend that we didn't know how many we would attract. The show was held in the Decatur Visitor's Center which was once the post office. It is a charming old building right off the downtown square. If you've never been to Wise County and you are ever near here, you gotta see the courthouse. It is one of the prettiest courthouses I think in Texas. It is especially pretty at Christmas when the Christmas lights are on.

DH was a wonderful big help again. He can sell. He can take down quilts. He can unload and load. He is a very good boy.
But alas my little quilt I entered in the challenge did not win. But several told me they liked it.
Did I tell you I did a demonstration? What on? What else? A stacked four patch, of course, that's what the ladies in the guild asked for. And I deliver--I cater. Just a little joke. LOL The demo was a lot of fun. It had been months since I had done one so I refreshed myself to get ready for the demo. I know-- I was having withdrawals. But after the demo and looking back through what I had started before (yes) I am safely addicted all over again and hopefully 8 or 9 more ladies are addicted as well. Hee. Hee. I can't help myself. I and another lady were the vendors for the show. She sells online and goes to quilt shows. I bought some of her fabric. She had some Kaffe Fassett fabric. Love it! The ones I bought are from Carla Miller. Check her out 2 Sisters Quilting here.


We had a wonderful time and now just have to unload the car again. Whew. And Sissy. Sissy is just wonderful, too. Soon after Sissy came to live with us we discovered we had a flea problem. We had them not Sissy. In our yard and in the garage (can we say CATS --Butterball caught a rabbit and brought it in the garage--yucky--he had mauled it and it was crying--then he turned it loose--8 <. The rabbit is no more but I think it must have been infested with fleas.) But they soon became Sissy's problem. Bless her heart. So to make a long story short after baths, treatments, fogging, etc. we still had a problem. She had to stay outside a lot. I couldn't have fleas in the house. I was vacuuming often, too, to make sure it didn't become OUR problem. We took her to the vet to get her rabies shot and got product for all three dogs and now no more problem. And she hasn't had an accident in the house since her first week. Yay! She is doing good! And she is such a sweetheart. She loves sitting in DH's lap when he's in his recliner or mine when I sit down on the sofa. She is a real lap dog.
Happy quilting and blessings,

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Meet Sissy



We have a new doggie. We've taken on this little challenge. She's just weaned four babies (I don't have the babies, Thank God.) and she's is under weight. She also needs some work on house training. But isn't she cute? She weighs 7 1/2 pounds and after a couple more pounds on her; she will be even cuter. I am feeding her plain yogurt and canned dog food. DS#1 got one of her puppies and it is so cute. So tiny.

Blessings,
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Rain

We've received over 7 1/2 inches last weekend. We are so grateful. We are forecast for more today. And today is quilting day. Yay. I get to go "prick" my finger as DH says.

We've visitors again. First came DS#1 dogs. He went out of town and needed dog sitters. He has a Pomerian and Mini Schnauzer. Then came DGS Mason for the weekend. Busy, busy.

We have also with the rain had cooler temps. Very welcome. So it put me in the baking mood. I stirred up a Sourdough Starter and then when it was ready made Sourdough Bread. Two big loaves, two cake pans of cinnamon rolls, one small loaf of cinnamon bread and can we say the diet is in DANGER. Oh, how I love bread. Then today DS#1 had asked me to make him some more Banana Muffins so, of course, I did. Enjoy, Brian. I also need to make DH some chocolate chip cookies (his favorite).

DH and a man have been doing some home repairs. A new piece of sheetrock is up in the bathroom (just needs taping and floating and paint). Another door put up on our well house that was needing replacing and new panels in our garage door that needed replacing. DH got the tractor finished he was overhauling, loaded on a trailer, and returned down below Stephenville.

I have guild meeting this Saturday and my Cruising Through Time mini quilt is due. I've got to finish it in the next couple of days. Then next weekend is the quilt show at Post Oak and my booth for two days. I've asked DH to come and help. He calls thread "string" so we will see how this goes. Then the very next weekend is the WCQG Cruising Through Time quilt show. So if you don't hear from me for several weeks--you'll know I'm fine I've gotten busy.

Blessings to all,

Friday, September 04, 2009

An Online Quilt Magazine

I saw the link to Quiltposium on Pat Sloan's blog and checked it out last night. There are quilting cruises listed, articles by the top designers, and so much more. It is free but you do have to register to download the magazine.

Blessings,

Friday, August 28, 2009

Just in case you didn't know

I'm back from Wal-Mart and thought I might share a tip with you. Wal-Mart will price match competitor's ads. I got my local grocery stores ads and circled the specials I wanted to buy; made me a list with the price I wanted Wal-Mart to match; and went shopping. I found this site that gives good information and here is Wal-Mart's policy. You need to be organized and polite to the cashier. I put my items on the belt last with the divider between my other things and before he/she gets to them I tell them I would like to "comp" them please. I take the ads with me to show if the cashier needs to see it. It is better to make a list and write the prices beside your list than to be hunting through an ad. At our Wal-Mart they are always really good. A lot of people know about this evidently because they had a sale on Folger's coffee and that size and variety was GONE from the shelf. That does happen sometimes. It helps to shop the same day or very soon after the ad comes out if the sell item is a really good price. Also be sure and check the shelf price at Wal-Mart BEFORE you comp because sometimes their everyday price might be lower!

Hope this helps.

Blessings,

More Free Stuff

Don't you like free? As I took a few minutes this morning surfing I found this and thought you readers might enjoy some of the projects.

Well, the new refrigerator we had to buy yesterday was not free but thank God He is our provider and we had the money. Our compressor went out on our eight year old Kenmore. I told them at quilting maybe I shouldn't have fussed about it the week before and said I didn't like it. But I really didn't! You had to lean over to get anything out of it and I was always banging my head (don't laugh). The other one's door kept hitting my cabinet when you opened the door and I couldn't get my vegetable bin open all the way. We got a side by side this time with ice and water in the door and for a good price. And I don't have to lean over (no banging my head) and it fits in our opening better. Woohoo! And I like it. Thank you, God, for your good gifts. And now I am off to buy stuff to replenish what we had to throw out.

Blessings,

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Something Quilty

A post with quilty stuff and quilts--it's about time! I have received two gifts from two special people. The first came right before I left to go on retreat and I totally forgot to post a picture.




Connie W from Cootie Bug 2 held a PIF several months ago and I entered and here is her gift. Isn't it adorable?



AND Patricia who has been reading my blog since it's beginning sent me these wonderful strings and crumbs. The colors are so pretty. I have one of those fabrics, Patricia. The blue with the dark. And check out the one that says Welcome to Grandma's that I positioned in the middle.


And I promised quilts! Here is the Time Travel quilt. All it needs is quilting. Yay!



And here is the latest. I found this fabric and used it to demo 4 Patch Stacked Posies earlier in the summer. I saw Geta's quilt and used her tutorial. I need a name folks. I'm thinking Floating Flowers at Midnight or something. I need help.



Blessings,

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Featured Blog

Check out what I found under Featured Blog!

Blessings,

Busy Again

Hi, everyone. How's your world? Busy I'm sure. What's God been doing in your life? Plenty I'm sure. He is so good. DFIL is doing well. He has the green light to start his cardio rehab.

Let's see. What have I been up to? Thursday last week the insurance adjuster came to evaluate water damage between the wall of our two bathrooms from a leak we found. The toilet in our master bath is leaking from the fitting to the tank. We could not figure out where the water was coming from until I was cleaning and saw it dripping. How weird is that? DH had already taken out a small portion of drywall to see if it was a pipe in the wall. Friday morning I picked a bushel of blackeyed peas and took them to a neighbor who had been wanting some to buy and then did some cleaning. Saturday morning was Wise County Quilt Guild. DS#1 came and spent the weekend with us. We really enjoyed it. Love you, Brian. Then we had the three grandkids come for a couple of days. They went home yesterday. Whew. LOL Lots of fun, lots of energy, and thank God they need lots of sleep! LOL



Tuesday afternoon it was so hot and youngest DGS wants to go 'side (outside) all the time so we put up the wading pool and turned them loose with the garden hose. It took some convincing for the two older grandkids that it was okay to play in the water in regular clothes (they hadn't packed swimsuits). LOL They had so much fun. Spraying and splashing and of course Max got in on the action. He doesn't like water but he does love to bite and catch the splashes of water. He would get water down the wrong pipe (so to speak) and choke and take a time out and then he was back at it again. Hilarious! He was soaked and didn't seem to mind. DGD and I went to Kraz-z Quilters on Wednesday for a little while. She made yo-yo's and I quilted. She helped me make chicken salad sandwiches from the chicken that cooked overnight in the slowcooker and we were hostesses. She loves it. DH and the boys stayed home and did their thing.

And in the mix--DH looked up Tuesday morning and the calves were in the garden! A little damage to the tomatoes and okra but I'm not sure if the blackeyed peas will recover. It's getting late in the season for them anyway and we have enjoyed them immensely. And I had the top and backing for a little C.A.S.A. quilt ready so I sandwiched it while the DGKs were sleeping Monday night and then got up early Tuesday morning BEFORE they woke up and turned it and topstitched it. Then Tuesday we (read on) tied it (they tied a few and decided it was too much work) and turned it in Wednesday to the Kraz-z Quilters. AND we have a new kitten. Since we have a Butterball and this one is a darker yellow I named him Butterscotch. We were told that Butterscotch was two months. Nope don't think so. Probably more like five weeks old. I was concerned that Butterball would be too rough with him--he's probably three months old. They were so funny at first. They both hissed at each other something awful. Then the next thing you know they are playing and getting along just fine. AND we have thirteen (make that 15--I went down a minute ago to turn on the mister) new baby pigs this morning. AND Ruby has come in heat and we decided that she was too young to breed and will wait until next time; so she has been locked up. Poor baby.

AND I have lost 3 1/2 pounds! Yay. I have a goal to lose 16 pounds.

Today it's laundry, figuring the checkbook, paying bills, straightening the sewing/quilting room, etc. etc. Answering the phone! Don't you just love it. DH has been to Wal-Mart to buy new batteries for his pickup and on to do some tractor work.


Blessings,

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Hello

If you're still reading-thanks and God bless. I am adjusting to DH being home--if you ladies know what I mean?! LOL We are doing better. LOL

I am picking okra every day. More than we can eat in one day so I am sharing. : ) We are getting a few cucumbers, tomatoes, and yellow squash. AND I'm picking blackeyed peas about once a week. I cooked a big pot with bacon ends yesterday along with a pan of cornbread. Yummy! Patsy, I hope you've gotten rain today. We missed out on this round.

Today, I attended the memorial service for our darling and beloved Agnes. She passed Saturday at 96 years of age. I am so thankful to have known her. The church was nearly packed. Everyone loved her. I don't know how many baby quilts Agnes made in her lifetime! If only she could have lived long enough to see the next great grand baby that is due very soon. Brian, David Walker is going to be a father.

Today as we sat around the quilting frame after the memorial service we talked about others who were in our club who have passed on. We had a good time remembering. Tell me about your memories of some special quilter in your life.

Blessings,

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Retreat

Our Kraz-z Quilters had another retreat! We went to Victorian House Retreat in Weatherford Monday through Wednesday. We had a lot of fun. I took the Time Travel quilt for DS#1 to put the last border on to bring it to queen size. One fellow quilter asked me, "Marilyn, do you ever put plain borders on?" Yes, I do but I felt this needed more flying geese. Why not? I haven't been following any pattern so that means I have to do the figuring. Math! I know. So I started cutting fabric then decided I better figure out how many I needed so I wouldn't come up short or make way too many. On Monday I was so tired from the weekend before so I was kinda brain dead if you know what I mean. 8 ) But after a good night's sleep I was good to go. It was my turn to cook lunch on Monday. Pasta salad and I took okra from our garden and fried.
Of course, there is always lots of good food at these retreats.
Gina and Kathleen--my sewing table is in front of Kathleen.
Gina of Busy Bees Quilters from Post Oak joined us this year. She bakes professionally. Oh, yeah! Red velvet cupcakes, coconut cake, and a heavenly blueberry chilled dessert! Forget any diet. Gina was a lot of fun and I believe she had a lot of fun.
Sharon was also a new comer. She joined our Kraz-z Quilters in January and we will be forever grateful! She hand quilts beautifully but most of all she is a beautiful person. AND she is a good cook! She has two sons still at home. Yeah, you know what that means! Cooking and lots of it.
Jan and Dixie busy at work.
It is so fun to see what everyone brings to sew on and watch their projects take shape. And the colors! Dixie, Jan, Kathleen, Sharon, Gina, and I had a blast. If you've never been on a retreat--you owe it to yourself to try one. If you do your homework they can be very affordable. We scheduled another retreat with the Victorian House and received 20% discount on our next retreat. A whole house with all linens, cutting tables, sewing tables, extension cords, design walls, irons and big ironing boards, pots and pans, coffee, etc. with two quilt shops nearby and more shopping available. A bargain!


Back to the quilt, I figured I was going to need 162 flying geese. (There's already 408 small ones--do the math--that brings the total to 570 flying geese.)Better get to sewing. I sewed and I sewed. It didn't look like I was getting much done. UNTIL late Tuesday night. Then Ta-DA. It started coming together. I sewed the two long side borders on and got most of the work done for the other two before time to go. If I have time in the next few days I will continue to work and get it completed. Stay tuned as they say.


God Bless,

Friday, July 31, 2009
























Here's the first batch of pictures. On our visit to San Angelo July 23-24 after eating at a Mexican restaurant we walked to the nearby Visitor's Center. This is near the Old Fort Concho in the downtown area of San Angelo. If you ever get a chance to go -- Go check it out. DGD and DGS's other grandmother had bought them bubbles and we had fun with them Friday morning. I love these pictures! Click on them to enlarge.

More to come!

Blessings,
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Pay It Forward

I have had interest in the Pay It Forward I posted back earlier in the year. I received the P.I.F. gift from Connie of Cootie Blog 2 and will post a picture. The first three to leave a comment will be included in the P.I.F.; so please leave a comment. Check out the original post at http://cateringquilter.blogspot.com/2009/02/pay-it-forward.html .

Next post will include pictures. I promise.

Blessings,

Update

Sorry, that I haven't posted lately. It's been busy again. We traveled to San Angelo/Ballinger last week on Thursday and Friday to take a Charolais bull to DH's dad who raises Charolais cattle. We took DGD and DGS with us to visit their great grandparents. It rained on us while driving down there. They went home Saturday evening. Then on Sunday I got ready for our quilt retreat. There will be a post about the retreat up and coming. I had a wonderful time. While at quilt retreat DH called to tell me his dad had been taken to the hospital. I got home Wednesday evening and then the next morning we drove back again to San Angelo. DFIL's stent they put in 2007 was completely blocked and found another blockage. They fixed all that. We drove home the same day. We stopped in Abilene to see DN who is visiting from the UK (and she is expecting their first child). This morning DFIL was supposed to go home but after an EKG they found another blockage and took him back into surgery. Thank God they found it and took care of it while he was there. We stayed home this time.

Rain--when we left at 4:00am Thursday it was pouring rain. We drove for about an hour in rain you could barely see to drive. When we got home the rain gauge had 2 3/4" in it. Glorious.

I am so tired. I am doing laundry and paying bills. I have made a note to myself. No traveling or grandkids before quilt retreats. It is too exhausting.

God Bless,

Monday, July 20, 2009

Cooler!

Oh, yeah! It was in the lower 80's today. I woke up to the sound of rain. Wonderful. Our temps had come down from those horrible triple digits from last week to upper 80's and 90's earlier in the week and today was absolutely awesome. Isn't it amazing how the weather can change and pick up your spirits?

Our neighbor down the road brought us a cantaloupe. Yummy! We are enjoying our okra and sharing our harvest now. I have an orange tomato just about ripe. My zucchini are dying off. Probably the results of 100+ temps. The yellow squash got a good soaking when we were at the hospital with DS#1. A hose sprung a leak that fed one of the nozzles in a hog pen and soaked the yellow squash. We had a young man checking on things but it must have happened after he had come. That's probably what saved the yellow squash during those horrible 100+ temps.

DH is enjoying his time off. We are beginning to call this lay off an extended vacation. : ) He has applied for unemployment and been picking up applications. He has also been working on a tractor for the neighbor who brought us the cantaloupe. DH talked with the supervisor who laid him off today and there may be a possibility of going back to work in 2 to 3 weeks. Now we have some decisions to make. We want to be in God's will most of all and are praying. Does he even want to go back there? If he can find something better--he would be happier. Does he want to work for himself? Does he want to work with me in the quilting business? Would we be able to work together? We have been talking a lot lately.

Oh, and here's something quilty. I hadn't updated the Featured Blog lately. Check out the most recent one. Seriously good. Penny Halgren's blog How to Quilt has a wealth of information.

Blessings to all,

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Hot!

This was sent to me in an email.

"YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN TEXAS IN JULY WHEN. . . . The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground. The trees are whistling for the dogs. The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance. Hot water now comes out of both taps. You can make sun tea instantly. You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron. The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly. You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car. You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window. You actually burn your hand opening the car door. You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?" You realize that asphalt has a liquid state."

It has been 106 to 108 degrees for highs this week. And no rain. We have a cool front forecast for tomorrow. 95 degrees for a high. Ahhhh! Our grass which once was green after the wonderful rains has turned crispy. Our garden--the okra and blackeyed peas love it. But all the other vegetables are shriveling. It is taking a tremendous amount of water to remedy the heat. But it will cool down and everything will be better soon.

This blog in the last few months seems to have taken on a pretty constant need for prayer. That must mean that those who read my blog are praying people. And I am grateful. We are again in need of your prayers. My husband is without a job. He took the week off when DS#1 had surgery. On going back to work on the following Monday he was laid off. The company is in bankruptcy. We are confident that God is supplying our needs. Our desire is to be in God's will when the next step comes. It is very interesting. My husband told me that Sunday morning the Lord was dealing with him about the amount of hours he was working and the next morning he didn't have a job. God is up to something good.

Blessings to all,

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Home Again!

Yes, I'm home. And it feels good. DS is doing good after back surgery. He should be able to drive this week. He is getting around slowly but good. Thanks for all the prayers. He and I had a good time together at his house this last week. I had time to read a book, finish sewing "Pieces Parts" quilt (and DGD Aimee loved it when she saw it this weekend).



I cooked and cleaned and watched TV.


And we celebrated DGS Mason's 2nd birthday Saturday afternoon. What a precious baby! AND we are going to be grandparents again! Mason is going to have a baby brother or sister! Praise the Lord!
Can you see Butterball and I in the reflection of the patio door? You can click on the picture to enlarge it.



AND we have a new doggie at our house. Ruby is her name. She is a border collie. Yes, there may be puppies--someday. Max is getting older--ten years old. Ruby belonged to our DD and family and since moving into their new house Ruby wasn't happy in their smaller backyard. She was herding bugs. Poor baby. She seems to be happy here. She is 9 months old. Lots of energy! Oh, boy, here we go again. Poor Max. First Butterball--lots of energy and now Ruby--lots of energy. His naps will never be the same! We took Ruby down to meet the calves and hogs last night. It was feeding time and everyone was making lots of noise and she didn't like it at all! Ruby and Butterball are very curious of each other. So funny. Ruby had the habit of licking DD's dogs faces. Go figure. She tried it with Max just now. Let's just say it didn't go over too well! She probably thought "Grumpy, Old Man!"


Blessings,

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Popping In

I am at my DS#1's house taking care of him after his surgery. He is doing well. He was dismissed from the hospital on Friday. He is progressing every day. He can't drive for two weeks following his surgery and can't go back to work for four weeks. I will stay until he can drive. I have been cooking and doing some cleaning. ; ) He hasn't offered to disown me or suggested I go home yet so I guess we are getting along peachy.

I brought some quilting projects. : ) and my sewing machine! Can you say "almost quilt retreat"?
I got the "Pieces Parts" quilt all together. There is a Jo-Anns right up the road. I went there today to buy ball-point needles to hem up lounge pants that are knit that DS#1 had bought. There's also a large thrift store I want to check out. I've visited a Super Target. Love it. AND maybe I will find time to check out the two quilt stores in the area.

I missed you guys in the last few days. I am using his computer to post. Trying to catch up on blogs. Thanks for all the prayers.

Blessings,

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Blogging Break

I am taking a blogging break. I may pop in the middle but I'm not sure. Things are getting busy around here again. I've been picking squash. Yesterday I picked our first batch of okra. Fried okra for supper. : ) The blackeyed peas will be ready in a short while and DS#1 will be coming home from the hospital. So I'll catch you later.

Blessings,

Wise County Quilt Guild 2009 Quilt Show

Here's a link to WCQG's 2009 Quilt Show . You can see a picture of our finished donation quilt.

Blessings,

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

It is a small world after all!

Park City Girl had a quilt festival online a couple of months ago and I go back to her site and look at more quilts from time to time. I happened onto to this one and thought, "I've seen this quilt before." Sure enough. I have a book Friendships in Bloom and on page 34 there is a picture of the beginnings of this quilt. The book is based on round robin exchanges between women from America and Norway. From what I understand the center block was made by the owner of the quilt and then passed on for a row to be added. I bought the book because I was involved in a round robin several years ago and enjoyed and for the interesting border ideas. It was very interesting to see this quilt again and completed.



Happy quilting and blessings,

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Update on Brian

His surgery went well. He was in a lot of pain initially but today was better. His spinal cord was nipped in the process of fusion surgery and he's had to lay flat for more than 24 hours. This happened a couple of months ago when they had given him an injection in his back. At that time he got a migraine so severe he had to be hospitalized. But this time no migraine. Praise God. Tomorrow he will be up and walking for the first time after surgery. He has a back brace to wear anytime he is not in bed and has to wear it for 3 months.

Thank you for your prayers and I would certainly appreciate continued prayers.

Donna, Happy Birthday today!

Blessings to you all,

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Needing your prayers again

Our DS#1 is having back surgery on Monday morning. Would you please say a prayer for him? Thanks. I will try and let you know how everything goes on Monday night or Tuesday sometime.

Blessings,

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The next Tiger Woods?

The next Tiger Woods? We were in Abilene Saturday. Let me back up--we met DS#2 and DIL in Decatur at a mexican restaurant Friday night and came home with DGS Mason. Then we got up Saturday morning and drove to Abilene to meet DH's parents and brother and wife and we ate lunch at another mexican restaurant. We like mexican food--; ) . We were visiting in the backyard and I asked DBIL if he could find a ball in the garage for Mason to play with. He found a tennis ball and then got the idea to improvise a golf club/baseball bat (which ever Mason was imagining). A plunger -- you know the kind you use for plumbing problems. Yeah! Unscrewed the stick from the rubber. The stick became the club/bat and the rubber became the tee. It worked good! Okay, okay. No, it wasn't all gross so don't go saying ewwww! Mason loved it. He even backed up and got down on the ground and looked at his shot. I kid you not! It was hilarious. That was lunch and early Saturday afternoon. Then we stopped at DD and family on the way back and ate supper with them. She made a mexican dish! Can you say MEXICAN FOOD?! All the grandkids had a ball playing together. Then we headed home. Got Mason a bath and he (and us) slept well. He woke up at 7am. You put him on the ground and he runs. I took him down to the garden and we did some watering. He had a blast with the garden hose. Yes, he got soaked. My plan entirely. Not necessarily my plan to get pretty much soaked from the knees down. 8 ) Silly NaNaw had on blue jeans. Oh well not to bother. We got that all done and came in and got baths. Ate a light lunch and then loaded Mason and DH up and drove him home. DS#2 and DIL cooked us supper. Not mexican! Yay! Steak on the grill. Yummy. DH and I came home and pretty much collapsed.



Earlier in the week I made a blackberry cobbler from blackberries a friend from Bowie brought us. Oh my goodness! Some vanilla ice cream and warm blackberry cobbler--doesn't get any better. Unless it's chocolate and then we're talking a whole new thing! LOL



And I've had to discipline myself. Yeah, you may be thinking diet. That, too. But I've had to discipline myself to finish the repair of this quilt for someone. This is an older quilt that had lots of wear. The customer wanted to preserve it as much as possible. I am sewing down the pieces by hand that have come apart. This must have been a beautiful quilt in it's day. I don't know how old it is. It is hand pieced and hand quilted. It has flannel between the layers. I have worked on this for hours! A labor of love let me tell you. I don't have too many hours left. Yay!

Today, I went to a demonstration. A free demonstration making a jacket using a sweatshirt. I've never done one before. I've admired those I've seen others wearing. A nice demo! And a nice salad luncheon followed. You know I haven't had to cook much lately. This is working pretty good! Stay tuned but don't hold your breath for the jacket I do. LOL ANOTHER project in the making! Oh, no! Where does it all end? I know six feet under. Let's not rush things, okay? What the heck -- give me another project. I can do it.
Happy quilting and blessings,


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Friday, June 19, 2009

New links in Tutorial in Sidebar

I have been adding new links to tutorials I have found all over the web. Enjoy.

Wishing all the fathers a Happy Father's Day.

Blessings,

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Check it out!

Check out the Featured Blog in my sidebar! Lots of freebies and great stuff.

Blessings,

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Egg

I found this empty bird's egg in the backyard today. Does anybody know what kind of bird it belongs to?








Blessings,
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Butterball and Pieces Parts

That title will make you look, huh?! LOL I will 'splain. Butterball is the new kitten and Pieces Parts is the new quilt. Not as bad as it sounded.


Here he is sleeping--shhh! ON MAX'S MAT! Yup, the critter has taken over. Isn't he cute? I took this while he was sleeping because he doesn't stay still long.



This is what DGD Aimee and I started when she last was here. Pieces Parts! Below you will see her inspiration. It is a skirt for my short arm quilting machine table--I hide things under there. Shhhh! Anyway this is my version of the skirt below. I did not make the one below -- it came with the machine. Pretty neat, huh? Hers are very neat--mine are kind of wonky. I have been sewing pieces parts together for days. Click on the picture to make it bigger. I was thinking this would make a good leader and ender project like Bonnie H. does.

And I wasn't able to use my design wall (bed) because I already had something on it. Yes, it is gathering dust waiting for me to finish the project above so I can change thread to dark and finish it. What do you think?
We went to a fundraiser concert Saturday night at a local church. A nice Christian band played. At the end of the concert a young man gave us a show in the parking lot. I have no idea what these are called. He took these baseball sized balls that hung by cords lit each ball with a flame and began to twirl them. Really neat!
I pulled sunflowers beside the pig pens this morning. I told DH that I had declared war on them. He asked me if I won. I told him we had merely had a battle and the war wasn't over. See you shortly after sunrise, Sunflowers! Where I have pulled them up the grass has been able to take over. Yay!
Happy quilting and blessings,