Middle June

This month is half over and going so slowly.  We started out with a sad thing...John's youngest sister suddenly passed away.  Well, she'd been in ill health for many years.  Kay evidently had a heart attack or another stroke sometime that day.  We as a family cleared out her apartment the following Saturday and have planned a small private family service at the lake in mid-July.  We will scatter her ashes at the lake and then have a family picnic to celebrate her life.  We are so grateful for the time we had with her...she was 61 years old and would constantly remind us the she was the baby of the family!  Sweet Kay, RIP.

Our outside temperatures are rising, as they do in June.  We have hit 90 degrees several times already.  The humidity is rising as well.  Another miserable summer.  Sigh!

We just received word that our oldest granddaughter is getting married in early September.  The ceremony and reception will be held at the family cabin near Sundance, Utah.  It would be a really hard trip for mom so we are taking her to Phoenix to visit with my brothers while we drive up to Utah for the wedding. After the wedding, we will drive back down to Phoenix to pick mom up and then fly home.  Not a lot of time to prepare for a wedding but since it will be a small, intimate one, they can get it done.  Emily and Trent will begin their new life in Pocatello, Idaho where he has started a new job with the U.S. Forest Service.  

Shiloh turned 6 months old in mid-May.  Last Friday he went in for a small procedure to turn him into a gentleman.  They wanted us to keep him quiet for 7-10 days - no going down the stairs to the dog run, only going outside on a lead and then coming back in after he's done his business.  Keep an eye on his incision to make sure it doesn't swell or get infected.  Well, the day of his surgery, we brouht him home about 3:00 and he was pretty loopy.  He probably was a bit sore, too.  He spent a lot of time laying on one or the other of his pads (there are 3 pads throughout the house for his reclingin pleasure - our bedroom, the great room, and my studio). He didn't really let me or John out of his sight. On Saturday, he was a bit friskier and by Sunday he was back to being his old self.  Sunday afternoon I let him out the doggy door to go down the stairs to the dog run...he never runs down anyway, always carefully making his way down and back up.  His incision is doing really well - no swelling or infection at all.  That 7-10 days restriction just didn't work for our energetic puppy - he's mostly healed already and full of 'piss and vinegar' again!   Although, sometimes he just falls asleep where he stops....

Thanks for stopping by!

June is Bustin' Out - Maybe Not All Over Yet

Our rain has finally stopped.  As of June 1st, we are 14+ inches above our annual average.  We are fortunate where we live that we don't need to worry much about flooding.  Our fields are a bit mushy but they are green and lush. The trees in our grove are starting to sprout beautiful green leaves - all the colors of green there are!  Out temperatures are finally starting to warm a bit - not too much yet.  And the humidity is still low so going outside isn't uncomfortable.  Give us another couple of weeks and we will definitely be living in the Ozarks in summer!  The humidity will skyrocket and it won't be worth it to go outside for any length of time until mid-September.  

Once we installed the storm door with the doggy door, it was clear that the cat was going to get outside.  Skipper goes outside as soon as I open it up in the morning.  He heads out to the barn to see the chickens and then sits in the sun all day till dinner time.  However, John called me out to the front porch on Sunday - it appears Skipper wanted to be higher than sitting on the front step or out in the garden....He climbed up in the elm tree in front of my studio window.  

He really likes being up high...and he seems to be able to get down all by himself as well.

My friend, Lynnie, lives in Arizona.  I met her thru the annual Row by Row event. While the event has been going on since 2011, I only started participating in 2014.  Quilt shops all over the country design a quilt row measuring either 9 x 36 or 18 inches square, or 12 x27 inches and make the pattern available for free to anyone who walks into their store and asks for it.  They make up kits for their patterns that are available for purchase as well.  From the middle of June to the first week in September, people can collect these patterns and kits and then make quilts from them.  Lynnie was part of a group on Facebook where people who were traveling would offer to pick up kits for perfect strangers and mail them to them.  The folks who wanted a kit from a specific shop would send money thru PayPal so that the buyers weren't buying out of their own pockets.  Lynnie was in Florida and was going to pick up at a specific shop that had a kit I wanted....the rest is history.  She and her husband spend each summer traveling the country, visiting family and camping in their RV.   They usually stop for a few days at a campground near us and we get together for lunch.  Last week, in spite of the pandemic, I got to meet up with her for lunch. 

Quiche, salad, fruit salad, and texas sheet cake with peanut butter frosting.  Add on some iced tea and you have a banquet.  

I've spent most of the pandemic lockdown working on machine embroidery items that I have wanted to do for a while.  Here is a little set of seasonal hangings - they only measure about 6 inches by 10 inches.  What fun to make. 

There were seasonal button that I added to each hanging.  I have a little wrought iron table hanger that these go on....

More machine embroidery - Last winter, my favorite designer came out with what they call the Bella Box.  You bought it not knowing what was inside.  It was jam packed with exclusive projects and included all you needed to complete each project.  The cost was close to $100.00 and we had to wait for almost 2 months after we ordered it before we got it.  Once it arrived, it was worth the money and the wait.  There was a small pillow, an embroidered apron, some coasters, and one other item that I can't remember now.  Along with the projects, there was a coffee mug (or hot chocolate) and a pretty little zipper bag. They put together a limited number of kits and once they were sold out, they were gone!  The announced in March that they were doing a Spring Bella Box and I jumped at the chance to get another one.  This one would be shipped in mid-May.  Mine arrived right on time and I had agreed not to open mine right away.  There were 6 of us from my favorite shop who ordered it and we agreen to all meet at the shop and open at the same time.  Mine arrived on Thursday and on Friday we all met at Shawn's Sewing Center.  We all wore our masks and sat 6 feet apart and on the count of 3 we all opened out boxes.  

Wow!  is all I can say.  They outdid themselves.  There were 7 projects with all the wherewithall to make them except for thread.   They introduced some new products that haven't even hit the stores yet....and showcased some items that are already in the product line.  I decided to work on one right away...and boy did it come out cute!  

The project itself is the little pen holder made from embroidery leather.  Made in the hoop except for actually constructing the bow.  It has elastic that goes around the journal cover so you always have a pen handy.  So Stink' Cute!  I've said before and I'll say it again, Kimberbell never disappoints!  

Thanks for stopping by! 

Even More Social Distancing

With everyone still social distancing, the days seem to meld into one another and there just isn't anything to separate them.  We get up, we eat, we watch TV, we eat, we watch some more TV, and then go to bed.  When we awake, we do it all over again.  I throw in some knitting and sewing and machine embroidery...mom throws in some reading and some online solitaire.  Mr. Wonderful is still working - he IS essential personnel! But there isn't anything to make each day special.  Probably, that's my own fault.  Whatever!  I am just getting tired of not being able to jump in the car and go to the yarn shop or Hobby Lobby or even the library.  I'm really DONE!  

Okay, rant over....breathe.....I'm almost over it.  

John and I had been talking about the idea of getting a new car.  Since he has a company vehicle and doesn't need his own anymore, we decided we would trade in his car and my car and get a new one for me. If he needed to go somewhere, he can always use the truck.  We mostly use the truck for farm hauling - feed store, lumber hauling, that kind of thing.  But it's perfectly beautiful and doesn't look like a 2005 vehicle. We both agreed that I wanted another Ford Edge...the 2008 Edge was such a great car.  It wasn't showing any signs of needing to be replaced...but we knew that we wanted to do it BEFORE we needed to do it.  Car prices continue to go up...John is still working so his income would be nice on a loan application...we decided that NOW is the time.  We found exactly the car I wanted - 2020 Ford Edge Titanium in Starry White....so many excellent features that I wanted (backup camera, bluetooth phone, foot-activated rear liftgate) and even more that I didn't know I wanted till I got them.  Took us about an hour to decide we wanted the car.  Went home, John made arrangements for the loan, That was Friday the 8th of May.  We got the check on Tuesday the 12th and picked up the car on Friday the 15th. I just can not get over how fast it happened and what a lovely vehicle it is.  

I have not only the backup camera, foot-activated rear liftgage, bluetooth phone, and water sensing front window wipers.  I also have blindspot alarm, remote starting, electric seats for both driver and passenger, seat position memory settings for 3 different drivers, and driver lane alarm and correction.  I'm sure there is probably a door with warm chocolate chip cookies and another with cold milk somewhere in there but I just haven't found it.  Here is a picture I snapped of my new car, which I've named Sparkle!

I'm sure I won't be over the initial love affair anytime soon...you will hear more about her.

Today is our youngest grandson's birthday.  He is 10 years old today.  He is smart, funny, loves Legos and sciencey stuff.  He never hesitates to tell folks how important they are to him (like his grandparents!!!) and has a wicked sense of humor and the quickest wit that I've seen in a very long time.  Deadpan and hyterically funny.  What's more, he is kind and compassionate and an all-around really nice person.  We love you, Big H.....happy birthday from Nana and Papa. 

Missouri is slowly opening up after nearly 8 weeks being closed.  Not everything is open but things are starting to open up.  Hair salons and nail salons, restaurants, bowling alleys, but not bars, concert halls, music venues, or movie theaters.  We took mom out to dinner the first night our one and only restaurant opened to the public.  All of the servers wore masks and gloves.  Only half of the tables were available to the customers.  But I was still uncomfortable having mom out in public.  I've taken her out a couple more times but each time I've just not been totally at ease.  I don't mind taking her with me if I need to go to the store - she sits in the car and reads a book while I'm getting what I need...at least she has a change of scenery and some fresh air.  Until things settle down a bit more, the picture below is still my mantra:

My favorite yarns shop recently posted some new items they'd put in stock...I could NOT resist these awesome stitch markers.

Bottom middle is my favorite! 

Hoping anyone reading this is safe and well and healthy.  It's becoming a dreaded cliche, but we ARE all in this together and we will ALL get thru it together.  There will be no new normal, nor a before normal...we can all decide what normal is for each of us.  

Thanks for stopping by....See you soon!

Still Social Distancing

Honestly, I'm getting really tired of social distancing.  I realize, I'm not the only one.  I thought being a mostly introverted, hermit-like person, I wouldn't have a problem spending lots and lots of days at home, away from the human race.  I find that, for the most part, that's true.  However, I also find that there are times that I crave human contact. Forced hibernation is no longer working for me.  

I have had to change my thinking regarding shopping.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love shopping via the internet so I don't have to deal with crowds and traffic.  I love nothing better than ordering from a shop and having them deliver a few days later to my home.  BUT, I draw the line at groceries.  I just don't want anyone else picking out my fresh veggies.  I want to do that myself. Before the Plague made its way around the world, I would decide what I wanted to make for dinner and if we didn't have all the ingredients, I'd hop in the car and go get them....along with other stuff, of course.  NOW, however, I have a different mindset.  Now, I figure out what we have and when I can make using those items.  If there is something that I'd like to make, and we don't have all the ingredients, the items go on the shopping list for when we DO go to the shops.  We try to go food shopping only once a week or every 10 days-ish if we can.  That seems to be working for me at this time..not that I could change it if I could.  The less often I shop for groceries, the less money I spend.  

We got a new storm door for the back deck recently. It has a doggy door.  Shiloh only took less than a day to figure out how to go out and come in all by himself.  Unfortunatley, so did Skipper!  I think Skipper figured it out first.  

Can you see that black smudge just under Shiloh's belly?  That's Skipper outside on the deck.  Just after this picture was snapped, Skipper jumped inside right under Shiloh's tummy.  Shiloh turned around and came right back in.  At least now I don't have to get up and go out to let him out every time he rings his chimes....I've taken those things down and the door stays open all day.  In, Out, In, Out.....you get the picture, I'm sure.  Skipper is spending almost all day out on the deck, or going down the stairs to explore the great outside...John said he found the barn.  I'm just hoping he doesn't start a fight with the neighbor cat.  Well, we will see how this goes.  

Shiloh is growing so fast.  He turned 5 months old last week.  He's so stinkin' smart.  He learned to sit in about an hour. He learned to shake on the second try.  He learned how to go in and out the doggy door in less than a day.  He's sweet-tempered, too.  And playful.  He never carried just one toy around with him...almost always has two toys in his mouth at the same time.  I got a photo - a bit blurry cause he was, as usual, in motion.

The blue ball has 'holes' so he can grab it with his teeth and still hold the little green one in his mouth.  He's a pip!

I spent a lot of last week using my embroidery machine.  Here is one item I made....it's a small hanging.  

It measures about 6 inches by 9 inches and I've hung it on a wrought iron hanger that sits on a table.  A welcome sign of Spring.  I have patterns for the other 3 seasons and will get them done soon.  I also made a banner for the front entry. Another welcome sign for Spring. 

I spent yesterday working on a couple of quilted items.  Can't show them yet cause they aren't done.  I will definitely show them next time.

Hoping you are all well and safe.  Maybe by the next time I post, we will have relaxed the Stay at Home orders and social distancing a bit.  I am not advocating relaxation till it is safe to do so.  But I sure do miss some of my former activities - like going to Shawn's Sewing Center and working on projects all day with my friends around, listening to women talking and solving the problems of the world.  Or stopping at a store that I see while in town just because I haven't been in there for some time to see what they have new.  I will say, the Plague has saved us a bit of money, now that I'm not stopping at stores willy-nilly.  

Please be safe and well. Thanks for stopping by.

Still Social Distancing

Honestly, I'm getting really tired of social distancing.  I realize, I'm not the only one.  I thought being a mostly introverted, hermit-like person, I wouldn't have a problem spending lots and lots of days at home, away from the human race.  I find that, for the most part, that's true.  However, I also find that there are times that I crave human contact. Forced hibernation is no longer working for me.  

I have had to change my thinking regarding shopping.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love shopping via the internet so I don't have to deal with crowds and traffic.  I love nothing better than ordering from a shop and having them deliver a few days later to my home.  BUT, I draw the line at groceries.  I just don't want anyone else picking out my fresh veggies.  I want to do that myself. Before the Plague made its way around the world, I would decide what I wanted to make for dinner and if we didn't have all the ingredients, I'd hop in the car and go get them....along with other stuff, of course.  NOW, however, I have a different mindset.  Now, I figure out what we have and when I can make using those items.  If there is something that I'd like to make, and we don't have all the ingredients, the items go on the shopping list for when we DO go to the shops.  We try to go food shopping only once a week or every 10 days-ish if we can.  That seems to be working for me at this time..not that I could change it if I could.  The less often I shop for groceries, the less money I spend.  

We got a new storm door for the back deck recently. It has a doggy door.  Shiloh only took less than a day to figure out how to go out and come in all by himself.  Unfortunatley, so did Skipper!  I think Skipper figured it out first.  

Can you see that black smudge just under Shiloh's belly?  That's Skipper outside on the deck.  Just after this picture was snapped, Skipper jumped inside right under Shiloh's tummy.  Shiloh turned around and came right back in.  At least now I don't have to get up and go out to let him out every time he rings his chimes....I've taken those things down and the door stays open all day.  In, Out, In, Out.....you get the picture, I'm sure.  Skipper is spending almost all day out on the deck, or going down the stairs to explore the great outside...John said he found the barn.  I'm just hoping he doesn't start a fight with the neighbor cat.  Well, we will see how this goes.  

Shiloh is growing so fast.  He turned 5 months old last week.  He's so stinkin' smart.  He learned to sit in about an hour. He learned to shake on the second try.  He learned how to go in and out the doggy door in less than a day.  He's sweet-tempered, too.  And playful.  He never carried just one toy around with him...almost always has two toys in his mouth at the same time.  I got a photo - a bit blurry cause he was, as usual, in motion.

The blue ball has 'holes' so he can grab it with his teeth and still hold the little green one in his mouth.  He's a pip!

I spent a lot of last week using my embroidery machine.  Here is one item I made....it's a small hanging.  

It measures about 6 inches by 9 inches and I've hung it on a wrought iron hanger that sits on a table.  A welcome sign of Spring.  I have patterns for the other 3 seasons and will get them done soon.  I also made a banner for the front entry. Another welcome sign for Spring. 

I spent yesterday working on a couple of quilted items.  Can't show them yet cause they aren't done.  I will definitely show them next time.

Hoping you are all well and safe.  Maybe by the next time I post, we will have relaxed the Stay at Home orders and social distancing a bit.  I am not advocating relaxation till it is safe to do so.  But I sure do miss some of my former activities - like going to Shawn's Sewing Center and working on projects all day with my friends around, listening to women talking and solving the problems of the world.  Or stopping at a store that I see while in town just because I haven't been in there for some time to see what they have new.  I will say, the Plague has saved us a bit of money, now that I'm not stopping at stores willy-nilly.  

Please be safe and well. Thanks for stopping by.

Easter Season

Today is the day before Easter Sunday.  I don't know of any church in this country that will be holding Easter Services.  However, a lot of them are holding Easter Sunrise Services using YouTube and other media devices.  Our nephew, Thom, is the pastor of a church in Iowa and he has been posting some short daily messages on a YouTube channel.  While we are not of the same faith as he, his messages are so informative and comforting, I look forward to hearing them every day.  If you go to YouTube.com and type in Thom Bryant, you will find a plethora of his 'sermons'. 

I seem to be seeing so many 'memes' on social media...a lot of them are funny, some are apropos of the time.  Here are a couple to help you thru the "Emergency" as they call it in Ireland (or so my friend tells me).  

       

I never thought much about the idea that we are all in shock.  Shock that our world has changed so much and so quickly.  Here's another idea - colroing books or even coloring pages downloaded from the internet.  Use crayons or colored pencils or pens.....I even found a set of recipe cards that lend themselves to coloring.  Might need to get those down and de-stress.

For funny, here are two that struck me.

Sadly, this one is rather true in a lot of cases.  The longer we ignore the stay at home orders, the longer it will take to flatten the curve. Only then will we be able to resume whatever we call normal.  Although, they are saying that our normal before wasn't working (obviously) and we now have an opportunity to carve out a new normal, one that might actually include leisure time, and spending time with family, and reading, and crafting, and gardening, and, yes, even praying! Write letters to friends and family.  Send cards with only your name if you don't like writing long letters.  Make time for yourself, as well.  We all need time for ourselves.  

I want to wish all of the readers of the blog a most Happy Easter and a healthy rest of the year and beyond.  You all really do matter to me.  I don't even know everyone who reads this cause you don't leave notes - and that's ok.  Just know that I value every single one of you.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Just Keeping on...

Well, it's been about 2 weeks...we are still social distancing.  I leave the house only to go to the market, about once a week.  John is, of course, still considered essential so he's going to work every day.  I'm not happy about that but he is being careful.  His temp is taken each day before he enters the hospital and he really doesn't have any contact with anyone who might be sick.  Mom is being really good about being kept inside the house. I took her for a ride yesterday but didn't let her out of the car.  We drove thru Braum's and got ice cream sundaes then ate them while parked in the parking lot.

It has been reported that the US was more prepared for the pandemic than a lot of other countries...yet we are still seeing so many cases and deaths.  I know that we are doing all we can to 'flatten the curve' here.  But there are so many people who are just not getting that it takes everyone participating to be successful in the shortest amount of time.  The longer it takes for everyone to stay at home, the longer the quarantines will last!  

I was able to finish my Round 1 socks for Sock Madness 14 and get accepted into the next round.  I admit I really don't care for colorwork, and these were a trial for me.  And I had to perform some sock surgery before they were finally accepted by the moderators.  But they are done and that's all that counts.

The legs on this pair are almost 9 inches long...not quite knee highs but definitely longer than normal.  The round ends early Thursday so I only have a few days before the next round begins...hopefully no colorwork this time.  I'm on a faster team than I've ever been on before so we will have to see if I go further than Round 2.  I'll keep you up to speed.  Promise.

A cuteness picture...no explanation necessary.

He's over 4 months old now and quite cute.  His feathers are coming in on his belly, ears, tail and butt.  And he's so smart!  My buddy in the studio during this time of quarantine!  

Thanks for stopping by. Be safe. Stay Home!