Mid-Summer

I can not believe it's already the middle of summer...it seems the older I get, the faster time flies....And, try as I might, there just isn't any clear way to slow it down.

Mr. Wonderful was in Kansas all last week, thankfully working a job that he likes!  He's learning a lot and seems to be really happy with this company.  They pay decently and treat their people with respect and honor.  That's my kind of company!

While he was gone, I worked on a couple of things that were just hanging around...things that just needed a bit of time and they were done.  Here is one...a small quilt square I've been applique-ing by hand...then I sewed the squares together on the machine.  It measures out at about 30 inches square. I'm not entirely sure how it's going to be quilted yet...but then it will sit nicely on the table during the spring and early summer.  

I think I'll bind it in a pink - I know, pink isn't my normal colour but this just seems to be calling for pink.

John asked me to make up some spaghetti sauce this morning....here it is, bubbling away....we like our sauce thick and meaty and this will be nice for dinner tonight along with some garlic bread.  With plenty to freeze for several meals later in the summer and autumn. 

Nothing much else to tell you, friends.  Enjoy the rest of the summer, I'll post again soon.  In the meantime, thank you for stopping by.

July Fry

 That's what they say in the west...June Gloom, July Fry...and it sure is true for Arizona in July.  I spent a week there last week. It was 113 degrees when I landed in Phoenix.  My beloved desert landscape just made me happy!  I've missed it so!!!

I spent 4 days in Northern Arizona with my mom...hadn't seen her in a couple of years.  I know my brothers are keeping close watch on her but my 'daughter's heart' needed to see for myself.  One of my brothers and his family came for dinner - here is Mom, R, and Me...youngest brother couldn't make it - sigh!

I was also excited to meet up with a cousin I hadn't seen in about 35 years...met Tammy for breakfast and she came over to Mom's to bring us fresh apricots from her tree that afternoon.

 Mom and I visited with Aunt B and then went quilt shop hopping...2015 Row by Row Experience started the day I arrived. This was Arizona's first time participating.  Some really, really cute patterns -  will show them when I get them done.

On Thursday, I took the shuttle down to Phoenix and my friend Meredith picked me up.  I hadn't seen Mer since 2006 when I last went to Camp Watch-a-Patcher.  Our mutual friend, Shelly, drove over from California and the  3 Quiltateers were together again for a few days.  Mer and I went to 7 quilt shops to pick up free Row by Row patterns and once Shelly got there, we spent the rest of the time going thru the 7 bins of fabrics Shelly had brought over for us to pilfer thru....I was a good girl and only took what I could fit in my suitcase without going over the weight limit. 

 This is what the living room looked like the day after Shelly arrived.  Meredith had set up some sewing lessons for me and Shel so we spent a lot of time discussing sewing v. quilting.

Our granddaughter, C, turned 10 in mid-June...she still plays with her American Girl doll (thank goodness!) so I made an outfit for her doll to go with the gift card we gave her.  I'm quite proud of this one!.

 I took the red eye flight home on Saturday...was so exhausted by the time John picked me up at the airport on Sunday morning.  Still needed to do the laundry but that was just about the only 'chores' I got done.  On Monday, I looked out the back deck and saw this...so close and all alone.  I didn't see any of the other herdmembers but I'm sure they were near.  Part of the joy of living in the country.

John got a new shirt.  And the saying tickled me.  It's so true. "Mowing. It's what I do. It's so much mower!"

Hope this makes you smile as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

June - New Growth

A couple of years ago, the gardeners at the library cleaned out the front gardens...they took out a whole bunch of what the locals call FireCracker bushes.  One of the girls at the library rescued them all and split them up amongst the employees.  I got 2 of them and John planted them along the east side of the garage.  They bloomed last year but this year, they took off!  A very short blooming cycle but amazing when they DO.

Several years ago, I bought John a bread maker for Christmas...due to circumstances and time, he never got around to using it, till this last weekend.  Not one to do things by half, he set the machine for extra-large and let 'er rip!  The bread that came out was amazing!  Light and fluffy and just about perfect, albeit huge!   

I'm getting excited about my vacation to Arizona in less than 2 weeks.  Haven't seen Mom in almost 2 years and I miss her tons.  And I'm really getting homesick for Arizona...even though I'm going in the middle of summer with the heat being so high in June.  Doesn't matter, I'm going anyway!  Hoping to take pictures while I'm there and will share them when I get home.

Thanks for  stopping by...

Mother's Day 2015

To all the Mothers who are reading this, I am wishing you a most amazing day.  Our job is a 24 hour endeavor, one that does not end when our children reach their majority.  They are our babies till the day we pass from this earth and beyond!  We worry about them, rejoicing in their triumphs and weeping in their failures.  If we are fortunate, they love us and keep us in their lives throughout.  I am one of the fortunates.  My son, along with his amazing wife and their 5 children, are forever a part of our lives and we couldn't be more proud of them! 

Young John is in the UK this week and he tried to send me some flowers for Mother's Day...evidently it is harder than he expected to send flowers from the UK to the USA...so he took a beautiful picture of a flower cart there in London and sent it to me....imaging getting a flower cart full of beautiful flowers.....I was so touched!  Honestly, he is so imaginative....and those flowers will never die off!  Along with the picture, he sent a note - which made me cry - I won't share it, but I will cherish it forever!  

See what I got from my own Mr. Wonderful?  2 knock-out rose bushes for the front area under my studio window.  Pink and yellow....so beautiful.  Along with a beautiful card and breakfast of waffles and home-grown sausage, I'm one happy girl!

Major storms today....we sure can use the water!  John is hoping it will clear up enough later this week that he can get the raised gardens cleared and ready to plant this year's vegetables by the weekend.  Tomatoes need to go into the ground really, really soon.  As well as cucumbers, peppers, zucchinis and jalapenos.  We want to do come canning this fall and the vegetables need to be ready.  

Short and sweet this time.  Wishing you all very productive weeks ahead.  And loving family and friends.  

Oh, and Jennifer in Australia, sorry I forgot your birthday...Hope it was wonderful!

Thanks for stopping by.

Mid-April 2015

Well, I guess spring is well and truly upon us.  Spring showers are popping up all over the place.  The other day, after getting home from work, I heard what ended up being a monstrous rain storm.  The pounding on the roof was nothing compared to what I saw when I looked out the windows.  This is looking out the back door, onto the deck and toward our grove of trees.  The camera has a much better eye than I do, evidently, cause when I looked out, I could NOT see the trees....it appeared as though tule (pronounced 'tooley') fog had set in. 

Out the front door, I couldn't see the trees in front of my studio.  The storm only lasted about 10 minutes but it sure was magnificent while it happened.

I had the chance to talk with a dear friend on Skype the other day and she was sporting a thumb ring.  I commented that I had wanted one for a long time and couldn't find one.  She mentioned that she'd gotten hers at a craft fair on the coast a while back but had not been able to find the vendor since cause she might want another one.  I went up to etsy.com and looked around and found a wonderful lady who makes them out of rose gold.  And only for $12.00 each!  I ordered one and it came and I am thrilled with it.  It fits my thumb perfectly and takes a tiny bit of pressure to move across my knuckle so it won't easily slide off. I might need to order another for my other thumb!  Or maybe for another finger...What do you think?  Am I old enough to be the lady who wears a ring on every finger?  

Round 3 of Sock Madness started on Tuesday, April 7th...the pattern is called Longing for Spring and it's really a lovely pattern to knit.  I'm not overly fond of socks that are knit from the toe up and this one is one of those patterns.  But the designer wrote out very nice instructions for the parts that I personally find difficult and it went along really easily.  Only 25 people were going to go on to Round 4 and I felt mostly confident that I could make that cut.  HOWEVER, Mr. Wonderful arrived home, as expected, late Monday the 13th.  I didn't really lose interest in knitting, just found that I wanted to spend more time with him than I did knitting...I found bits of time all along Tuesday and finished the pair Tuesday nite around 9:00 p.m.  Took the photo, uploaded to my project page, sent the email to the moderators and waited to hear if I had gotten (by that time) the final spot on my team.  Alas, the final spot was filled 12 minutes before my email arrived.  And I'm fine with that.  It beats the year that I missed making the next round by 27 seconds!  

Regardless of not making it to the next round, I have a lovely pair of spring socks, I will get all the rest of the patterns for the rounds including the bonus patterns, and I have Mr. Wonderful home with me!  

Went to the commissary yesterday...it's been so long since we needed to go that far for groceries.  We spent over $350.00 but that's far less than we normally spend when we go to the commissary - remember, we only do our shopping once every 6-8 weeks.  The larder is full and the cook is busy.  The dishwasher is being used for the first time in a very long time - I usually washed the dishes by hand since it was only me. 

It's going to rain today and all the chores are done and I'm going to either knit while watching TV with Mr. Wonderful or work on a quilt project or two.  He is going to BBQ some burgers (I haven't had burgers off the BBQ in 18 months) and I think I'll make a pasta salad to go with it.  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Welcome Spring!

 Well, UPS came thru...and in a very timely manner!  I came home from work last Friday and this is what I saw. They did a wonderful job of filling in the trenches and re-seeded the gouge.  We had some rain the other day and are expecting more in the next 24 hours so I suspect the grasses will begin to show really soon!  Thanks, UPS!

 It's really starting to look like spring in the Ozarks.  The fields are starting to green up, the raised gardens will need to be addressed once John gets home - NEXT WEEK!  

                         

                         

I finished my round 2 socks for Sock Madness in plenty of time to qualify for round 3...They were quite tight on me and when I posted the picture on my Facebook page, one of my former students sent me a message that she just loved them. I asked her what size shoe she wears and these will fit her perfectly.  I mailed them off to her and she got them in time to wear them up to Mammoth for the weekend.  

I had appointments most of today - doesn't that usually happen when one has a day off from work?  Once I got home, I found that the round 3 pattern had been released this morning!  I printed it off and grabbed the yarn and needles I had chosen for this round.  It's called Blossom and I think it will be perfect for this pattern - lacy flowers will appear on the foot and all around the leg as the pattern progresses.   While I'm certainly not very fond of knitting socks from the toe up, I can do this...I just need to be one of the first 25 knitters on my team to complete the pair.  We have 2 weeks to finish.    

                           

Will let you know how it goes...in the meantime, thanks for stopping by.

Catching Up

Last week, my neighbor passed away...she had been suffering for quite some time with rheumatoid arthritis and COPD and I'm so torn about her passing.  Her husband is my office partner at the library.  I know just how devoted he was to her and I'm sure he wasn't ready to let her go yet.  No one ever is.  A part of me wanted her to remain here forever.  Another part is glad she is now pain free and can breathe.  RIP Miss Sandy...you surely will be missed!

The same day that Sandy passed, I heard a noise outside the house and looked out the window.  A UPS truck (a huge semi truck) was trying to make a Y-turn to leave the cul-de-sac area and got stuck in my yard.  A couple of neighbors had come down with a big 4-wheel drive truck and they spent over an hour pulling that big semi out of the 'ditch' it created in my front entry.  Those track marks are over a foot deep!  I didn't go out there cause, let's face it, what could I do but nag at them to get that truck out of there and then fix the mess he made...Once the guy got his truck free, he never even once came to the door to let me know what he'd done!  I went out and took these pictures and talked to my neighbor who helped the guy and then sent an email to UPS asking what they were going to do about the mess.  I got a call on Monday afternoon from the operations manager at UPS Freight - he told me that they were turning the matter over to their insurance company to handle and that I could expect a call in the next few days. Sigh!

                                      

Yesterday was my day off and sometime mid-afternoon, the doorbell rang. 2 men were standing there from UPS...they said they were sorry that their driver had made such a mess - he had reported to them on Friday that he'd done it - and if they come out and fill in the tracks with new dirt and smooth it out and re-seed it, would that make me happy? Well, of course it would, gentlemen!  And thank you.  They apologized for the mess and said that, yes, their driver never should have tried to make a Y-turn on that narrow turn...he should have just backed out till he could get turned around. So it should be fixed by the time Mr. Wonderful gets home in mid-April!

We had some really fast winds all day yesterday and they blew in some wicked clouds, filled with wicked rain and hail.  Here are some of the clouds scudding across the sky from the west...made for some really eerie light; really bright yellow and shimmery.  And there was a ton of thunder - I really love thunder...really! The dogs and the cat aren't really fond of thunder but I just love it!  Add in some lightning and I'm one happy girl!  

They say we will be getting some more thunder and lightning later today...and probably up to 3 inches of rain in just a few hours!  Fortunately, we don't live in a 'holler' so no flooding is likely to occur.  

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!