Sunday, February 28, 2016

Week 9 - A Bit short

This week went so darned quickly....I can't believe it's time for another blog post.  There was very little activity this week.  On Tuesday night we had a bit of snow but it was mostly gone by the time I went to work on Wednesday morning.  

Yesterday I set myself a goal of finishing a quilt that I'd started when we lived in Rhode Island.  Those of you who wish to count backward will know that we moved from RI in late 2002. I'll wait while you do the math.  Yes, you are correct!  14 years to complete a quilt top.  I give you the designer's picture of American Dreams below.  Mine is mostly the same with the exception of the childrens' outfits.  The 'kit' I got from a friend in RI did not include fabrics for the children block or the church block or the ocean block (all those on the bottom row).  I used my own fabrics for those. I just want to say - there are 50 scrappy stars and 13 red/white log cabin 3" finished blocks in this quilt.  
 I made the commitment to finish this quilt this weekend and I did it!!! It's now ready to be sent to one of my machine quilters for the quilting process.  What a wonderful feeling; to finish this one is a real achievement for me.

Tomorrow is February 29th - Leap Day.  One of my favorite movies is Leap Year...a delightful romp through Ireland. A wonderful chick flick.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Week 8 - Spring Plantings

Our amazing daughter-in-law, Jill, is a whiz at decor and design.  She has a business called Vinyl Girl whereby she cuts shapes and words out of vinyl which can then be adhered to wood, paper, walls, anything.  For Christmas, she made this large plaque for our living room wall.  It holds pictures of our 5 grandchildren and can be changed out each year with new pictures.  Cute, huh?


The weather in southwest Missouri has not been at all winter-like.  Now, I'm not complaining...just observing.  Because it doesn't appear that we will be getting much more winter weather this year, John decided to start the spring planting.  

Here you can see our newest garden additions - bacon seeds!  These are approximately 6-week old piglets, 2 of which are ours and the other 4 are our neighbor's...on their way to their new home. That's the back of John's pickup.
 All 6 of them seemed to settle in quite nicely.  Poor little things hadn't been in the sunshine before (they are from an Amish farm and have lived in an enclosed pen with a roof) so within about 15 minutes, they all turned a slight shade of pink....sunburned piglets! But their new house has a roof and they can get out of the sunshine easily.  In time, they will not 'burn' much at all. Give it 4-5 months, and we should have bacon, and pork chops, and sausage...yum!  

The sun is shining and the temps are lovely.  I think spring is tipping her toes into the Ozarks....yes, we will have some nights of temps lower than freezing (only a couple this week) but I suspect they are not going to be the norm, rather the exception..John is outside working on his raised beds - getting them ready to plant in a few weeks - I hear the cultivator working.  Now to decide what to have him plant this year.  I'll keep you informed as we go along!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  See you next week.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Week 7: A Very WICKED Week

My very favorite play is called Wicked:The untold story of the Witches of Oz.  The music is invigorating and makes me want to dance every time I hear a song from the play.  I was able to see it back in 2008 in Los Angeles with my dear friend, Fran....what a treat!  We took the train up to L.A., saw the play and spent the night, then took the train back to San Diego.  When I heard they were bringing the National Tour to Springfield, I knew I HAD to get tickets.  I haunted the website on the day they were made available and was able to get 3 tickets.  This Tuesday was THE DAY!!!  I had my nails done by the indomitable Becca - She drew little witches hats on a couple of fingers and there is sparkle on all of them!  So cute.
Tuesday night found my 2 friends and I in the 11th row, so excited we would have wiggled our tails off if we'd been puppies.  

Terri, Me, and Destiny.


 Destiny and I couldn't resist having our picture taken in front of the poster.
I'm so glad I was able to share this experience with my friends here. 

Rarely do I get mail at work.  There's just no reason for it. Occasionally, however, a piece comes in and it gets put into my mailbox.  One piece arrived last weekend and it was decided that it was probably meant for me.   

We all got quite a giggle from that.

Today brought rain, drizzle, and ice to the Ozarks.  The windows on the east side of the house are covered in a thin layer of ice - they look like those frosted glass squares one sometimes uses in a bathroom window - lets in light but no one can see through.  The roads are a bit slippery so we are really glad we don't need to leave the homestead today.  Taking the dogs outside periodically, we can hear the drip, drip, drip of melting ice...although the temps aren't higher than freezing yet, and the clouds are covering the sunshine, we are still getting a bit of a melt...the roads won't be treacherous tomorrow when John has to go to work, thank goodness. 

Well, I want to get a couple of projects off the ground today.  Time to 'turn to' as they say in the navy!  Thanks for stopping by.


Sunday, February 7, 2016

Week 6 - Another Quiet (Dull) Week

This week marks another quiet one....nothing significant happened - no weather, no accidents, no lottery winnings - nothing!  On the other hand, nothing momentous happened either - no weather, no accidents, no lottery winnings!  We were able to go to work, pay our bills, have dinner together, talk to family on the phone; all the things we are thankful we are able to accomplish.  I see nothing here to complain about and so many things to be thankful for.

I spent yesterday sewing....I finished a quilt top that I started last year (that sounds awful but it was a Block-of-the-Month and we got the last block in November)...it is now ready to go to the quilter. Once she gets that done for me, and the binding is on, I will show it here. It's really pretty - oriental fabrics! One of my favorites.

I also worked on this year's Block-of-the-Month block from my local quilt shop...and a pair of fraternal twin blocks for a quilt I'm doing online with some friends. Everyone is using their own colors and fabric choices and we are told at the the first of the month which block to make...I'm using a kind of a tropical palette for this one...oranges, pinks, reds, yellows, turquoises.  Here are the two for                 
February....the designer calls the block Button.  

See, I told you nothing exciting happened this week...and I can't think of a single further thing to tell you.  Perhaps I will have more vibrant news next week.  In the meantime, 

Thanks for stopping by!