Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Okay the clouds are gone

And the temp went on up to 100. According to the news we started the day at 86 degrees that set a record low.
The clouds were nice while they lasted. And the little shower of rain was so nice to see.

Ya'll hang in there this long hot summer.

A Cloudy Sky

That's what we woke to this morning. And mid morning we had a little shower of rain. Woohoo! Praise the Lord. The temps have stayed in the mid 80s so far. Another Woohoo!

Yesterday was crazy. You ever have one of those days when you have something you want to get done and it just doesn't happen. Yeah. I was paying bills and such. The telephone company has changed their billing. It fouled up the way I normally pay my bill by telephone. I FINALLY got a human voice to talk to me and we got it all settled. All that automated stuff that doesn't apply-- don't get me started. But to the telephone company's credit -- the person on the other end was very polite and helpful. And our neighbors down the road have telephone service--the repairmen were there yesterday installing new boxes on the side of the road. Thumbs up.

Like I was saying yesterday didn't go as planned. The phone would ring. It was all personal. Family and friends and they wanted to talk. I'm okay with that. But it sure can change your plans. LOL I'm back on track today; we'll see how long it last. LOL I've got the vacuuming done. That always makes me feel better. Soft cleaner carpet under my bare feet.

I have four or five Dresden Plates left to do. And then I will explore how big I will make this quilt. I'm working on it in the evenings while watching TV.

Blessings,







Monday, July 25, 2011

Scary Moments

On Friday afternoon we had a grass fire across the road from our house. I discovered it around 2:30 when I went out to spray the hogs. As I walked out the back door I smelled smoke and as I rounded the corner of the house I saw smoke coming across the road. And the wind was blowing at a pretty good speed. I ran back in to call the sheriff's office. Then I ran to change out of flip flops into socks and rubber boots. Then I thought to call DH to come home and help. By the time I got back outside you could see the flames. When DH got here (probably only 5 to 10 minutes) the flames were to the road and as high as the power lines. The firefighters arrived very quickly. The wind was out of the southeast so the neighbors to the west of us were in the most danger. DH and I both got water hoses going -- he down at the barn and me at the house because the flames were also traveling up the hill.  We were basically wetting down our side and DH was spraying in the air to keep any embers from catching our side on fire. We were praying and spraying! I was concerned for our neighbors.

We have two pine trees on either side of our front gate and as you know pine trees catch fire very quickly.  So that's where I was directing the water. The firefighters got a handle on it really quickly. Our neighbors homes were spared one lost a tree next to the road and part of their lawn burned the other neighbor has really high hedges in front of their house that burned. 

On Saturday afternoon the fire rekindled where it had begun--in the middle of the field across the road. The fire is unexplained. I saw  Mr. & Mrs. Davis (the ones who lost the hedges) walking up the hill looking at the damage. I met them on the road and visited. She had seen a small pickup truck drive out shortly before the fire started. There isn't anything in that field--no house --no crops  --no reason for a pickup to be out there. We suspect meth activity. Either producing or dumping the products used to make it. I also found out that the Lara family was gone at the time of the fire. I had been gone running errands and probably been home about an hour when the fire started. Both neighbors lost telephone service-- the boxes on the side of the road burned. Our box is located up the hill and around the corner -- so we still have service.

It is so very dry here. The grasses are all brown except where it has been irrigated. It looks like winter. I can never remember it being this dry in the almost 23 years we have  lived in this area. I am very grateful for the fast response of the firefighters both Friday and Saturday. Our neighbors homes could have burned and even ours if the fire had not been contained as quickly as it was. Thanks be to God for our protection.

Needless to say my plans for Friday afternoon were changed! I had planned to do some house cleaning. Nope, didn't happen. I was zapped after the excitement. Instead I began to applique the Dresden Plates on the background squares. It's been too hot to do much of anything so I sat and sewed all weekend except when we went to Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and Tractor Supply.  I am making great progress on the Dresden Plates. I only have four or five left to do out of fourteen. That is IF I don't decide to make more to enlarge the quilt. Hmmm. Gotta think about it.

So today I will do some cleaning and some quilting on the machine.

Have a blessed day and may God's protection be on you.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

It's Wednesday!

And you know what that means--Kraz-z Quilters. We are going to meet today in our new place and sew on C.A.S.A. quilts. I have to load up my sewing machine and stuff. So this will be a quick post. I would have gotten my things together last night but I called my sister and she's going through some stuff and just needed to talk and be encouraged. Would you say a prayer for her? Thank you.

What follows is a post I started earlier in the month and totally forgot about.


I washed the quilt I keep on our bed. I wash it in the washing machine on the gentle cycle and dry it spread on a plastic drop cloth on the floor with fans blowing on it. It is hand quilted and that's why I do it that way : ) -- just my way. It surprisingly drys pretty fast. I usually do it at night so we have the walking space during the day but this time I did it early in the morning and it should be dry before Larry comes home. I don't think I've washed it since we've had Sissy. I trust her somewhat. But I thought it might be better to be awake when it was on the
floor. ; )  I love a newly washed quilt. It feels so soft and smells so good! 



 Blessings,
Marilyn

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Uncle, Uncle

I give up! Please no more 100+ degrees. Our grass is cooked. It is absolutely horrible to be outside after 1pm in the afternoon and until 8:30pm before it even begins to be tolerable. Please, Dear Lord, give us relief from this heat and please send us rain. From the US weather map sounds like a lot of people feel the same way. The drought has been made much worse by the heat.

Good news! We have a meeting place for the Kraz-z Quilters. Two of our ladies attend a church in town who offered the use of a room (that they weren't using) that is just perfect for us. We will experience added bonuses of a kitchen and fellowship hall nearby. The fellowship hall will come in handy when we want to tie C.A.S.A. quilts, bring our sewing machines and have a sew in, eat our noon meal. We are all doing HAPPY DANCES. We will be back to quilting in a few short weeks. Woohoo!

We have a new litter of pigs born yesterday. Lovey gave birth to thirteen piglets. Twelve are alive and doing well. That's a lot of babies especially for a first time mom! We have two fans and a drip on her constantly to keep her cool enough. I will get pictures in a few days. Update: When I checked on her around 2pm two laid dead. Then at 8:30pm  she had stepped on five more. Such is the life of a pig farmer. Hopefully she will raise the remaining piglets without further destruction. Sometimes you get some that are good mothers and sometimes you don't. 

DH had an appointment on Friday morning with a representative of  DARS to see if he qualifies for assistance. The rep felt like there wouldn't be any problem. DARS from my understanding is a rehabilitative program to assist children and adults who have disabilities and developmental delays to live and enjoy a more productive life. And in their program they help workers to either return to work or be able to stay in the work force. Folks, we believe our prayers have been answered. He will get his hip replacement he's been needing so badly. He is such a trooper. He has been working -- with a bad hip and in this horrible heat. Please continue to pray for my DH. Thank you.


I attended TAQG Rally Day July 9. It was my first time to attend. Terry Clothier Thompson was the speaker. She spoke on civil war quilts and had many beautiful quilts in her trunk shows both morning and afternoon sessions. There were many door prizes. I came home with one! A pattern for a quilt. The entertainment was "roll on the floor" hilarious. The Fat Quarters (there are four of them!) were totally enjoyable. Four women all admittedly menopausal quilters so you can imagine the jokes and lyrics to their songs.  One of the highlights was seeing all the donation/raffle quilts the different guilds had on display and the opportunity to buy a ticket!  Our guild's quilt this year is a snowman quilt named "Snowmen on Parade". We all made a block or two. We were given a fabric (blue glittery tone on tone) fabric and told to make a snowman block. We could use a snowman printed fabric or make an applique of a snowman. It is a unique and truly one of a kind quilt. I will post a picture sometime soon in the future. We will draw a winner in December.



These photos were taken from the afternoon session when she talked about appliques quilts. Don't you love the strawberry quilt in the center?











Sunday we celebrated DGS Mason's fourth birthday. He wanted a "bounce house" party. I had never experienced a bounce house before. Let's just say there was a lot of bouncing and sliding going on (without this grandma LOL). Lots of three and four year olds in attendance along with their parents. I think some of the parents enjoyed it as much as the kids! There were two sets of twins in attendance. One set had identical girls and the other a boy and girl who looked just like their father and mother respectively.  Both Mason and Paisley had been sick during the week with strep throat. Has this been a weird year not only for weird weather but weird sickness as well?




Mason is going up the slide.
















 I tried to catch him in mid slide. Didn't happen! He's too fast.  One of the twin girls is climbing up. I think that is my DS#2 Marcus about to send someone? down the slide maybe Paisley.














I took this one over someone's shoulder (other grandma--okay quit hogging--LOL) of DS#2 Marcus and his baby girl, Paisley, as they landed. Can you see those smiles on their faces? I think they were having fun.














 Update:  More good news--not only did the Kraz-z Quilters have the offer from the church of a room for a meeting place. But the insurance company who covered the burned building told us to gather a list of things we lost in the fire and get it to them. So after our club president arrived back in town after vacation she and I got busy gathering information. We have offers of at least three quilting frames we can choose from.  The local paper did an article on the fire and that the Kraz-z Quilters had met there and our loss and what people could donate. So I received a phone call from a lady who has fabric to donate.We are feeling really blessed!

Blessings,







Wednesday, July 06, 2011

A total loss

The building where the Kraz-z Quilters meet burned last night and is a total loss. I saw it on the 6am news on Ch4 FOX DFW. Then I had to drive down and make sure it was "our" building. It was.

We have spent years meeting every Wednesday--probably nineteen years--in that building. Immediately you begin to think "What was down there that was lost?" Number one-Sharon's quilt was on the frames being quilted! She and her hubby are on vacation. Hope she doesn't hear just yet and can enjoy the rest of her vacation. Dixie had brought her mother's sewing machine and left it for the club to use when we needed a sewing machine down there. It was a Singer 15-91. Manufactured in the 50's. Vintage. All the C.A.S.A. quilts we had made -12 in all-- and were collecting and getting ready to present to them. Our quilt blocks for our next raffle/donation quilt. Our scrapbooks. Marie told me she had taken the original and another one home to show someone. I had one at my house. So we can have those for memories sake.

Marie's cutting table, the refrigerator, the orphan blocks we were going to make into quilts, quilting books and magazines, batting for C.A.S.A. quilts. And the list goes on.

I am the treasurer and treasurers are responsible for keeping the club's financial things at their home.  So those things are preserved.

One good thing--the business owner in the front of the building had decided to relocate her business so had been in the process of removing her things. I'm not sure she got everything out though. She has had so much loss in her life in the last several years. Her only child was killed in a tragic car accident two years ago. She had just brought us some of her clothing and asked if we could make a quilt with them. The clothes were lost in the fire. That will be devastating for her.
Edit: I have talked to the business owner. She only had six tanning beds and a few other things left in the building. She had already moved the majority of her inventory and sold display cases. She did ask about her daughter's clothing but was not as upset as I thought she would be.

Bad thing--a new business was supposed to be moving in. Good thing--they hadn't moved in.

The phone keeps ringing. Members calling. We are all so sad. I told one I think we need to meet and have a good cry. She said a funeral. Yeah, it feels like a part of us has died. I know we may find another meeting place. We had already been looking because we had experienced some problems. It's hard to find an inexpensive place to meet in a small town. Some have suggested a church.  Churches are getting to where they don't want quilters. We take up room they need for well--their church. I understand. We had already decided that if we lost our meeting place we would start meeting in each others homes. So I guess the decision was made for us.

And I know the Bible says that whatever the enemy meant for evil God will turn around for good. That's what I am standing on.

Blessings to everyone,
Marilyn

Monday, July 04, 2011

Happy Independence Day

Thank you, God, for the freedom to worship you! Thank you for the United States and may she bring you glory.

Marilyn