the gardener was here-quilty purses & little beasties

Here are some purses I made with Japanese fabric and a small piece of Kaffe Fassett. I'm deciding what I want to do with these-they are too big to group together for the 12x12 piece so I may make some more and just make a random wallhanging of purse prettiness. Lord knows I need some girly stuff around here. I really need to get much more familiar with my machine and all the stitches I can do. The handles came out kinda crappy. I may applique some handles on over what's there.

Just call me Lady Chatterley(heh heh)My own sweet gardener was out & about with lots of Pansie prettiness-actually I think these are viola but I'm calling them my pansies and that's that. Roger came home from a Friday trip to Lowes with a trunk full of these babies and a truckload of thistle seed for the goldfinches. They are happily twittering outside the window. I can report that we have gone directly from the first few days of warmish spring to full-on summer. It is currently 78 degrees. Not complaining but could we work up to it a week or two at a time?? Tomorrow is my first day at Curves-pray for me. Today I went to Target to get some exercise pants and tees. I hope this old creaking body doesn't just give out. On Saturday I didn't measure how far I walked on the treadmill but instead measured if I could exercise for 30 min. straight. I made it to 33-yay.

I may have mentioned before that I love to feed the squirrels and chipmunks in my yard. This is great fun but I pay for it this time of year and here's how. Saturday-Roger planted the flowers and by this morning the squirrels had dug up the entire plant plugs and laid them neatly on the dirt. Who says they aren't funny? I came home and there they were-pansies-sideways in neat little piles-not eaten or disturbed in any way. Just lying on there little colorful sides. As I was backing up to the house to empty the car I saw in the rear-view mirror bushy tails ducking under the porch slats. Wise guys! I think they're pissed because all winter long they sunned themselves in the empty flower boxes onthe railing and when Roger put the flowers in he put a moth ball under the dirt at each corner cause they really don't like mothballs(who does) And so...it is war.

One last thing before I go for a walk. Rian asked about the sweet potatoes. They are like having candy for dinner. All you do is get yourself some good olive oil-brush the halved potatoes with it and sprinkle cinnamon very lightly and salt-grill cut side down for 15 min. and turn over for another 10. when they are done you can see the potato bubble a bit. Get a plate and fork and have dessert for dinner. With the plain Yukon Gold potatoes or red bliss-I mix a little Lawry's salt with the olive oil and grill the same way. Heavenly.

I'll be back with updates on my pain tomorrow-wish me luck

This is not my picture but it was so pretty that I blatantly swiped it from Google-I hope they don't arrest me....

sunny diversions

Eye candy_ wish I could say this was from my yard but I can't. We're almost there-temps in 50s today and up to 70 by Sunday. Just as we thought-directly from sweatshirts to sweat. Not complaining mind you. It's a shock to the system though.

My husband surprised me yesterday when he arrived home with supplies for the Goldfinches-food, new feeders and such. He bought me a new umbrella for the porch. Yippee- the one we had was in sad shape and really dirty looking. This looks more like a market umbrella-nice stripes on dark green. Happy Dance.

I am spending the day doing what needs to be done in order to enjoy the outdoors and indoors more. Our grill needs a good cleaning so I can cook something yummy on it. At the end of the season last fall I just burned off the upper grill and covered it and said "see ya in the spring" sooooo that's where we are now. I cook on the grill nearly everyday in spring, summer, and fall so I need to get on the stick- Then it's off to the grocery for peppers and portabellos and maybe shrimp on the barbie....mmmmgrilled veg and...well...anything. I also grill sweet potatoes and reg. just a few brushes of olive oil and a touch of Kosher salt and you have yourself a feast. Sometimes-cut up the veg-Italian dressing-feta-toss and sigh.... Have a great weekend everyone.

12x12x4 challenge piece & thoughts on sewing

Here are some pictures of the 12x12x4 piece that I just posted on the Quilt Studio challenge page.

The Ginkgo leaves below is one of three other pieces that I began with the intention of using as a challenge piece. I have another couple I may show soon. One is some blossoms done with colored pencil on fabric.

The Ginkgo leaves are fused on pale pink cotton and it's about 8x12. I will use colored pencil to give veins and shading to the leaves.

Interestingly, the first type of sewing I ever did was needlework-crewel and cross stitch. My grandmother was an incredible needle worker. What became of the wonderful pillows and linens she made is a mystery. She did all sorts of intricate work. Needle lace, Hardanger, crewel, eyelet work and such. I wish I had paid more attention but I think I didn't because she made it a very strict and unhappy time-ripping things out that weren't perfect. A lot of yelling in German can really have a detrimental effect on the enjoyment of hobbies. My mother was a seamstress, making couture quality clothing-dresses, coats, and even pants. Same thing there. Nothing was ever good enough so I didn't pay attention-I just cringed along until I could go do something else. I really enjoy embroidery and loved needlepoint and crewel later in life. I may take up these things again. I wish my hands weren't so sore though. It may be time to start again with the Glucosamine Chondroitin.

Anyway, I'll keep plugging along-with the sewing and the treadmill and exercise....I'm really not having a lot of fun lately. Does anyone have some cheese to go with my wine? Sorry

Addendum-I just want to keep track of my daily walking for a while...

today-a liitle over 3/4 mile and I picked up a touch of speed. so far no pain-tomorrow, the mile mark!

Tale of the tummy...groan

One has to laugh...really. I realize now that the green stripes don't make me look smaller...bad choice.

Seriously-I am walking on the treadmill in prep for the workout to come. Being tortured and crunched is next. I have some lower back disc problems and so I think I need to strengthen and gain some stamina. Lord, I hate getting old. If only we could be as young as we feel mentally. I'd be in good shape.

Just thought I'd give you a chuckle-I'm on my way to do some errands and them later I will try and finish my 12x12 thingy.

Thanks to all who wondered how we made out during this awful storm. I don't know why we escaped but we did. Just a lot of fallen debris from trees and such. many other parts of the island were in really bad shape. We didn't loose power(amazing) and we live way up on top of a hill. As I said to my friend Gerrie-if the water comes up this high we can all kiss our tushies goodbye. It would have to be a tsunami type flood way up here. See you soon

Didja miss me???I missed you....

I got a bunch of things done last week and I just took a break from...well...everything. Lots of time taken up with yearly check-ups and such. Good news there for which I'm grateful. Still waiting for news from one Dr. and I'm hoping that no news is good news.

I have not finished my 12x12 piece. It's almost done and I am finding an interesting and annoying thing about myself(only one Dee???) As I mentioned before-I don't like the 12 inch sq. shape at all but that's not an insurmountable problem. I find that even though my hormones have stopped being a problem most of the time, I still have horrible days of indecision and inability to focus. I have no less than four 12x12 pieces started and I get to a point where I just hit a wall with them and put them aside and start something else. So....the up side-I have been working on a bunch of stuff...the downside-nothing is finished on time. Hopefully by Wed. I tried taking pictures of the piece I plan on using and it's not photographing well so I will enlist the help of my professional photography team(Roger) to get a better shot. It also has a lot of hand work on it and the old hands are angry with me. It's been a while since I did any kind of needlework or even hand quilting. Slow going...that's today's phrase.

All of this is by way of explaining today's picture. I had some of these lavender and purple fabrics left over from a table runner I did for a friend of mine. It seemed so springy and sweet that I decided to make one for myself. The other log cabins are some that I found and they will also find there way into a small mini or table top piece.

The weather here has been really stormy and the wind is whipping everything around. More like March than April. We really didn't have any flooding like some places but I'm sure that a few inches of beach are returned to the sea. I should take a walk down there in the next few days-lots of great stuff washes up-neat shells, rocks, and beach glass. Next week they will rake the beaches and make everything pristine and, frankly, boring.

Well, I'm making chicken soup and working on some Food Pantry paperwork I need to finish up so I'll be back tomorrow. Hope you will be too.

Easter Eggs for the Rich

I've been neglecting a number of important things lately-the computer is a black hole that sucks up time. It started as a thing to look at when I couldn't sleep at night or would wake up early in the still-dark morning and, not wanting to wake the rest of the house, I began to surf....Don't get me wrong-I really love the blogging world and the kind and talented people I've come to enjoy there. The fact is though that too many times during the day I find myself here-doing this. That means I'm not working on art, taking care of things, and generally wasting too much time. So, I've decided to take a little break in order to bring some order to my life. Maybe for a couple of days-maybe for a week. I find that when I'm blocked about something( a lot lately) I'm working on-I immediately sit down here and get lost, thus accomplishing nothing artistic or otherwise.

Anyway I wanted to let anyone who is interested know that I'm O.K.-just in need of some time away from blogging. I feel all out of sorts and for some reason a little short tempered and sad. Where's that coming from??? Must be allergies or the weather.

I was going to put some cute bunny stuff up in the spirit of Easter and then I came across these fabulous Faberge eggs on line. They were given as Easter gifts by Czar Nicholas to his wife Alexandra and his children for the most part. The first one is my all time favorite. I love Lily of the Valley.

This one, of course is a fav here-being made of shamrocks.

They are sometimes on the market-most were owned by the Forbes family and a large portion of that collection was sold at Sotheby's to some famous people-Joan Rivers owns a bunch. They are gaudy and beautiful and magnificent at the same time. Imagine being so wealthy that you could spend $60,000.00 on an egg-that's the estimated price of the Lily of the Valley and the others are in that range. Since the whole family was assassinated in a hail of bullets, I hope they enjoyed their eggs while they had them. Even if I had that much money, I can't imagine spending it on jewels but they are beautiful, tiny, masterpieces nevertheless.

I just thought you might like some holiday eye candy. I'll see you soon.

signs of spring and changes

So sorry for the crappy picture but the signs of spring are here for sure. I'm not sure if you can see it but right before I snapped this shot there were about six goldfinches feeding here. As soon as I opened the door all but a couple zoomed off. That's o.k. cause now we can put out the other feeders and I can lie in wait for the rest of the bunch with the camera at the ready. These little beauties are my warm weather harbingers and my obsession. With them come a host of other finches and teeny little birds. I have trouble looking away. Like I need another reason not to work.
My friend Gerrie Congdon says I wouldn't like her kitchen because I said I don't like 50s stuff. I think I confused my eras. I've seen Gerrie's pics of her house and her new kitchen curtains and such and I love the look of her stuff. I think what I don't like is Formica and plastic and Jetson's type housing. By the way-I hate housework-so we would get along well. However, we live in a small townhouse type structure attached to the old part of the house. Space is very very limited. Housework sucks but in these small confines I really have no choice. If left to it's own devices we would be buried under a pile in days. All of us are pack rats. That makes it a consistent struggle. What we really need is a dumpster. Nearly all of the upstairs is our bedroom with a walk-in closet and large bathroom. I have the whole front of our bedroom for workspace. At least that's how it should be. Right now it's the repository for all the crap that we don't know what to do with as well as overflow fabric and sewing supplies and art supplies. Dumpster needed??you betcha!
I am going out in the next few days to find out about a personal trainer for me. The time has come and I hope we can find someone who our wallet will accommodate. I need structure and someone to get in my face. I need that so I can get in shape to get in my husbands and son's face. As I recently said to a friend-it's amazing how getting in shape can bring out the bitch in me. That would be a good thing. Right now I'm Miss Complacent and it shows on everyone. UGH! I'm not looking for a dramatic change just something to put me on the road to physical health. I'm panting just climbing the stairs. I wish I was strong enough to just go back to Weight Watchers like I did once before and loose 50 lbs. but it's not happening and I need someone to bully me- in person- everyday and I need physical excercise and strength-the rest will follow.
Meanwhile...the goldfinches are here...the goldfinches are here .....yippee

meme from Debra

aprons - y/n?-yep-my favs are from Williams & Sonoma-plain white professional. Hubby brought back cool ones from Alaska with puffins on them. Need to make the neck band longer. I need aprons because I have boobage that gets in the way. All my clothes would be ruined.

baking - y/n?- love to but we have diabetes issues here so I don't often. I do make biscuits and scones often. Never touch my oven for any reason from May to Sept-Oct. If it can't get cooked on the grill-it's not on my radar.

clothesline - y/n?-what is this thing called clothesline?????

donuts - ever made them?- when I was young, my Oma used to make them and I watched-does that count? She made great ones with a sliver of apple in the middle.

everyday - one homemaking thing you do everyday?Laundry, laundry and laundry. Son with job working on cars-smelly laundry.

freezer - do you have a separate deep freezer? - no.

garbage disposal - y/n- no

handbook - y/n?-what ???I gues by this you mean Martha or Fly Lady or that type thing?? NO No NO & NO I grew up watching Donna Reed and June Cleaver so I know what is expected of the dutiful housewife. I've been cleaning house since I was 7ish and my mother went off to work at 6 am and I had to clean, make myself breakfast, lunch, and walk to school in Forrest Hills, Queens for Gods sake. I think it made me a stronger woman in the longrun but---Enough of housework. If it needs doing-I'll get to it eventually. No More Guilt!!Fortunately I married a man who is easy going and happy as long as I'm happy-Doesn't get any better than that.

ironing - love it or hate it?- I know it makes me sound crazy, but I love to iron. I think it represents a part of life that can be made perfect(Martha, where?) I like neat clothes that are pressed.

junk drawer - where is it? It would be easier to show you where the one drawer that's neat is.

kitchen - design and decorating? Kinda country-ish. I'm very eclectic. If I love it it goes with everything. I'm not fond of retro 50s type kitchen stuff, although I like the linens and feed sack stuff.

love - what is your favorite part of homemaking?-Favorite? that's not a word I would apply to any housework. I like cooking a holiday meal and I love grilling outside and making things for my family. I'm surrounded by GUYS so mostly they don't notice anything and as far as the food-I could spend ten hours cooking and they would still scarf it up in minutes. It's just a guy thing I've come to live with.I've learned in more important ways how much they love me.

mop - y/n? Doesn't everyone-I like the swiffer thingy but I find it doesn't really clean well enough. The dry one is great for quicky run throughs.

nylons - wash them by hand or in the washer?Who made this a question and who wears nylons. I don't even wear knee highs anymore and I don't think I own any panty hose either.

oven - do you use the window or open it to check? open it. My eyesight isn't the best and the window has that mesh stuff that you have to be eagle eye to see through.

pizza - what do you put on yours?We have the best pizza in NY and I love a good cheese pie. Lately though, many places have come up with interesting additions. The best one lately is chicken marsala. Chicken and portobella mushrooms and a light marsala sauce. Very good. Most of the time it's the real deal though.

quiet - what do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Nearly all my moments are quiet. I read, computer, sew. I don't work outside my home and I volunteer so I make my own hours for that. Roger has been very good to me. He enjoys seeing me enjoy myself. I am very blessed.

recipe card box -I have one that belonged to my MIL Dot. It's just something I keep for sentimental reasons.

style of house-Old-added on to. The original part of the house is a salt box type built by my late FIL Jim. We added on a town house type structure when we moved here. My BIL Bob lives in the old house and we live in the new addition(not so new anymore18+years)It's a work in progress-or not in progress most of the time.

tablecloths and napkins - y/n? -No

under the kitchen sink -Billions and billions of cleaning things.

vacuum - how many times a week? -We only have carpet in our bedroom and on the stairs so it is easy to keep up with- once, unless I'm working with fabric up there.
wash - how many loads do you do a week? Countless-Son works on cars and I never seem to get ahead. Yes, I know-James should do his own laundry but I don't trust him not to ruin our stuff, the machine and such. The laundry is in my uspstairs Master bathroom(hubby thought it would be better than my having to carry stuff up the stairs_thanks honey!) Anyway, during the night stuff goes on in the bathroom(dark, angry, stuff) and by morning the laundry explodes. Another WIP.

x’es - do you keep a list of things to do and cross them off?Nah..
.
yard - who does what?Big honking yard-mostly BIL Bob and James when you can hold him down. Roger and I have bad back issues. I'm only good for planting a couple of things and R is about the same.

zzz’s - what is your last homemaking task for the day?dishes into dishwasher-put up coffee for morning.

It's yours if you want it. you can copy questions from Deb's Daily Distactions here http://debsdistractions.blogspot.com/index.html thanks Deb.

I've spent the day fooling around with stuff for the 12x12 etc. Fusing fabric and trying different layouts. I've discovered I really don't like working in a square and I'm not crazy about the 12 inch size. I guess, as wierd as it sounds, I'm a rectangle kind of gal. I can owrk that into the 12 in. layout and I may do just that. Anyway, here is a couple of the really elaborate Empress & Emperor Hina Matsuri dolls I came across. Some of their outfits are many layers think and the amount of layers is somehow significant( I know, I know-wake up back there)

Around the house in my world today. It's gorgeous out and spring has finally come along. Roger put out one of the goldfinch feeders today to see what's up with the little yellow darlings. Maybe their not around yet. I thought I saw one zooming around the other day. There are pansy baskets in front of the grocery store and so I know what my mission is this week. Yippee spring!

Unfortunately for my son spring is no picnic for him. It's allergy season and his ears are popping and sinuses are icky and the medicine makes him uber-cranky. We are all skirting a wide circle around him. He will be rather miserable for a few weeks now. I feel so bad for him. Cranky and not able to enjoy the most beautiful season-not fun. We will try not to loose our cool.

Yesterday, I did some house stuff and then I sat down to watch the BBC version of Elizabeth I with Helen Mirren. Wow-I just love Helen Mirren. It's the first portrayal of an adult Elizabeth with a sensual aire. In all the other portrayals by the time she reigned for 20 years she's shown to be a pasty white crone. This was really a great version. While I was at the store I picked up a copy of Love Actually just so I can look at Colin Firth. I used up the last of my Christmas gift card and bought a new book about Last Empress of China by Anchee Min as well as the new issue of Quilting Arts which is chocked full of brilliance. Page after page of great stuff to read about and see and try. That's what I like about that magazine. They lay it out so you get the whole picture and aren't stumbling around in the dark trying to figure out stuff. Sorry, but I'm new to the whole fusing and art quilt thing so I need direction. I've gotten great tips from various art quilter friends on line but when it comes to actual application I get a bit frozen with fear. Silly really since what have I got to loose? Some fabric and wonder under???

So that's all the news from my little corner. Hope you are enjoying the weather and some fun with fabric.

wip wed. & 12x12x4 peek

Here are some things I'm playing with for my 12x12x4 April piece. I have the basic design down so I can't show that but these are a few of the fabrics that are in the piece. I started out with this challenge wanting to keep to the Asian theme but frankly I got bogged down by the whole "shoes & handbags" category. I kept coming back to the seasonal virtues of Asian design and because right now is the season of cherry blossoms and Hina Matsuri or girls day, these issues kept popping up in my head instead. Hina Matsuri is the festival derived from very ancient times in Japan where families would make paper dolls and, when burned, the dolls would symbolically take all bad fortune and illness with them up in smoke. I will explain more about this ancient custom when I show my piece. I decided to make something representing women preparing for these festivals. One of the popular ways they use is to have hair decorations appropriate to the time of year and drawing attention to the neck when the head is turned. The neck of a woman is particularly sensual to men in Japan. They devise wonderful hair ornaments of both fake and real flowers and tiny jewels attached to combs that are worn to celebrate the beauty of both woman and season. Here are 2 pictures of wonderful Hina Matsuri doll smade by a master artisan. One is just a doll in general the other is a doll representing the Emperor. I would give a lot to own one of these beauties. Maybe someday. They are very expensive so for now I just enjoy the pics. These stand about a foot high or so. The last is a shot of an antique display used by wealthy families. They would have these settings made up and over the years they became more and more elaborate. This one is really fancy and very large. Several feet high. Unfortunately these pics are not clickable.

Well, I should get back to work. It's another lovely day here so the weather is distracting me-I must focus.

Spring fling and book stuff

As you can see, I have some books. I think it was yesterday that DebR of Red Shoe Ramblings asked us to show our stuff-books that is!

Here are three shelves of many. Some of these are my very favorites that I would read again and again. I'm not organized like DebR who has all of her stuff by genre and author. I've got books everywhere-everywhere... Years ago there was a great bookstore in the town nearby and I would go there to see what they had on the used book isles. They often bought collections from the wealthier folks around who buy books for decoration. That was fun. I found a lot of really wonderful books by great authors for next to nothing and began a collection. Steinbeck, E.B. White, Brendan Gill, Dos Passos, Updike..and my collection of George Sand, Flaubert, the Bronte's, Proust, and the great American writers, William Carlos Williams, Faulkner, Fitzgerald etc. I wanted to experience what their writing was about. I thought if I liked it-it was a gift. If I didn't-nothing lost. I can't really say I disliked any of the ones I just mentioned. I have tried to pick up Dickens several times and just got sleepy reading him. I never get sleepy with a book that interests me. I will try again some day. To my everlasting joy I also found Isabel Allende and read everything she has written. "House of the Spirits" is my very favorite. I loved the "Stories of Eva Luna" as well. There is almost no greater writer and chronicler of the NY experience than Pete Hamill.

A friend of mine owned the bookstore in town and I worked a few hours there-got paid in books and discovered a passion for mystery and murder-Carl Hiaasen, Michael Connelly, and my great find in James Lee Burke. He wrote a book called "In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead" that I have given over and over to people just so they can know what it is to hear music when you read the written word. His books are not for the faint of heart. They are down and dirty southern murder mysteries but he can write like a poet and bring tears to your eyes with his description of a vanishing South and all of it's beauty as well as it's under belly. I've made a convert out of my BIL Bob and his friend Joe and a number of others. A movie was made a few years ago from his book called "Heaven's Prisoners" staring Alec Baldwin. It was O.K. but I had always had my heart set on Tommy Lee Jones as Dave Robicheaux. I still think it was written for him. It's a good movie and a departure roll for Terry Hatcher. Of course the book is better but it's interesting to see how the characters you have grown with come alive in film.

Well, that's my story for today- I've been waiting for Martha to pull up with the moving van and she hasn't shown again. That means I have to put on some cleanin' clothes. It has jumped right past spring here and gone to nearly summer in a day. The temps are heading for 65-70. That's time for ceiling fans and since I can't turn them on without dusting them first-off I go to the ladder and vacuum duty. All the windows are open and the birds are singing, mmmmmmmspring

If Martha Lived Next Door

I got tagged by Dorothy of Morning Pages to do this. The truth is that, in a way, Martha already lives very nearby. She has two houses south of us in, what else, Southampton. I understand that she sold one of her houses in but I think she still kept the one where she had a long standing feud with the next door neighbor. It's on Georgica Pond, which is a very upscale place where people like Steven Spielberg have houses. Sadly, even though the place is still very beautiful. it is now famous for other sights such as the parties where one can, unfortunately, see such dreadful things as the perpetually drunken Paris Hilton and her hideous underwear(or not- her underwear that is). Gag....

Anyway there was a lawsuit between Martha and her next door neighbor regarding the shrubbery that separated their driveways. He claimed that she ruined the hedges and that she tried to run him over with her big-assed SUV. I thought it would provide much amusement if they had a "War of the Roses" thing where she chopped down the hedge and he ran over her perfect flower gardens. People in the Hamptons have to much time and money on their hands.

So anyway...5 facts of life if Martha lived next door.

1-I think Martha is a little anal so she would probably complain to the town about the state of our land. Up on our hillside there are a number of trees that have fallen and, frankly, just lay there. It's no-man's land up there are covered in places with poison ivy so we just leave it alone. It's too steep to build on and covered over with vines and such so that it becomes very dense with growth quickly in spring thus removing any possible people problems for us. Out of sight out of mind is the going phrase around here. It has one really great side effect- No one from way up on the hill will trample through it thus removing the annoyance of the unruly, screaming, children that live up there. I think all of that would not sit well with Martha as it is far from, how you say, Perfect.

2-Martha living on one side of me would be fine-on the other, not so much. There is a large plot of land that is unobstructed on one side but the other is on a hill that would make life with Martha around just too close for comfort and again, the issues of perfection would arise.

3-Having Martha next door would insure a bunch of changes like Dorothy wrote about. Better roads and some basic sprucing up. Maybe they would put in sidewalks. The sidewalks stop about a quarter mile from me. It's a really tricky thing to try and walk on the road running in front of us-frost heaves and broken blacktop etc. I'm sure Martha would get right on that.

4-Martha would probably come over with muffins and see that I desperately need a decorator and make my house the next project-immediately. That would, indeed, be a very good thing. Maybe I'd be famous for the segment on her show where they do a before and after and you hear an audible intake of breath from the audience when they show the before and after. I would like that because, frankly, I'm sick of everything in the house-just bring in the dumpster Martha!

5-I agree with Dorothy about the quality of food stores and such as well. Currently, I have to go to 3 different places to get good fruit, meat, and bakery. I know that Martha would have a profound effect on the state of food around here and we know where food is on my scale of "things that are important from one to ten". Even though I find Martha annoying in many respects and anal retentive in many others, I would like to get to know her. I'm a people watcher-I like to figure out what makes people tick and it looks to me like Martha has a whole big ol' bag o' snakes in her head. The Donald thing was sort of amusing but I think Martha needs a writer to respond to The Donald. Sometimes it seems that she is uncomfortable in her own skin and not good at extemporaneous quips. Verbal sparring is my forte and I would be able to help Martha so we would be friends and then she would arrange everything in my life and make it run smoothly whereupon I would run screaming from the house and be unable to speak for long periods-only able to blink to be understood. Blink... blink.....

So there you have it-that's the whole bag of Martha for today.

I got a kid quilt from Nicky to bind and it will go in the mail to Amy tomorrow. Now I would like to have some time to work on a few ideas I have that I just never get to. My 12x12x4 piece and some other stuff. My adorable niece was here for the weekend with my brother and we had a good time. Now I better get to work. See ya.........

I forgot to tag 3 people-geez I hate tagging so if you're interested-tag! you're IT!

Spring Break

Can't take any more pictures of ice and snow so here's how I wish it looked. Really, the icky stuff is almost gone and we have now entered the gray and brown phase. Colors will appear soon-but for the time all is gray and brown with a side of dirty snow. Bleah.....

Sorry I have been a poor blogger lately-several things going on that just took time away from it. No sewing going on & too many Dr.s appts. Hubby is still getting up at dawn to make early physical therapy appts for his shoulder-the son had an appt this week to touch base with our new and wonderful Family Dr.-- Love him! We all love him. I had to have the mamo re-done and then a sonogram to make sure. Apparently I not only have large boobage-but it is also very dense(shut up) Anyway!!!! Tah Dah!!!! Happy to say all is clear and fine. Phew...

My brother is coming to visit this weekend and bringing my adorable 11 year old niece so I must clean the house since I don't want to scar the child for life with the horror.

I started to put the heart donation quilt and backing in a package to mail to DebG. yesterday when I noticed that one of the heart appliques was coming away from the surrounding fabric. I will fix it as soon as I can and ship it off next week. Sorry about that Deb.

Well, I must be off to do battle with scrubbers and sponges and vacuums Oh My! I got 2 interesting books from the Library this week-One is called "Private Lives of the Impressionists" and the other is "The Yellow House" and that is about Van Gogh and Gauguin and there brief time together in said house. Maybe because my mind has been too distracted to concentrate this week-I'm having trouble getting into them. They are both such interesting subjects but seem to be written by veddy, veddy, serious arty types(read dry and boring). I thought it would be full of great stuff about the artists and their....welll...private lives. Nah, so far they are so dry I have trouble keeping my eyes open. The Van Gogh is better than the other but not much. Like I said, maybe it's just the mood this week. I'll give them another shot next week. Sorry for the lack of quilty stuff-I'll give that a better shot next week as well.

See you soon

Bright Shiny Day

Oh Happy Day! The sun is shining and the ice is melting. The kid quilts are on the way to Amy and the quilt for the woman soldier, Molly, is on the way to Fran in Colorado. Very productive day and a delicious weekend. Chinese for dinner last night so I had the whole day without cooking or even thinking about it. Hooray!I will get the heart donation quilt top into the mail later in the week. I'm sort of involved with a number of nuisance things this week and the house is seriously filthy-feh!

Thanks for leaving me all the nice comments. It really makes my day to hear from you.

Here's a picture of what a sad young man, without his girlfriend, looks like after 5 hours outside chipping and shoveling. James couldn't even get his car up the icy drive covered over by the glacier. Dani couldn't get up here so it was a-gahd!!!"stuck in the house with us" kind of day. He watched a bunch of DVDs and I watched all 6 episodes of Elizabeth I. Roger did taxes. We left a wide swath around him. It's so sad when he whimpers and moans. Poor soul.

In case you're wondering what the sign in back of James says and you have forgotten your Latin-It says Hic Habitat Felicitas- or happiness dwells here. I gave it to Roger on our anniversary way back when we were just starting out. We saw it on a Charles Kuralt, Sunday Morning biography about a very poor black man in Georgia. This man had nothing, barely a roof over his head, but he loved to read and had educated himself in this way. He was a laborer and all he really owned were the books that lined the walls of what literally was a shack with few everyday conveniences that we all take for granted. He had, other than the hundreds of books, this sign on his wall . It makes me smile every time I see it and sometimes reminds me of what is really meaningful in my life.

It's on to the grocery store and, as always, laundry had managed to multiply alarmingly overnight. Shenanigans in the night? I think so. See you tomorrow.

REALITY SHOW

Just thought I'd let you see what's really happening in my world......Bleah....That's BIL Bob taking a break from chipping through the ice. It took him 20 minutes to get out his door and to this spot. Now the temps are rising and hope springs eternal. It's pulled pork and coleslaw for dinner and for desert-Advil all around.

Get the picture?No you don't.

If only it were so. I found these pics of spring in the yard to take my mind off of the awful reality outside. Mother Nature is, how you say, pissed. There is about 3 inches of very icy, slushy, snow outside and it came down in tiny ice pellets-sideways all day yesterday and through the night. It snowed, and poured and sleeted. Today my guys will attempt to remove some of the crust and hopefully by Monday we will return to something resembling normal. James and BIL Bob couldn't even get their cars up the icy driveway. They have to dig the mess out up here to get to the mess down there. This weather pattern we are in is such a nuisance. We have the mighty snow blower in the basement and when big snow does come down, it is easily gotten rid of-not so with this stuff. First of all, it weighs a ton and has to be chipped away blah blah blah....Remind me of why we live on this blasted island again??????Oh! that's right-the beaches, the ambiance, the pretty little village by the bay, offshore breezes in summer, and tah dah..the the muck and mold the other three quarters of the year.

Above this rant you can see pansies and a shot of my favorite little bush in the yard. I don't know what it's called but I would plant it everywhere if I could. It flowers with these little pink darlings in spring and then sets green berries which turn bright red in the fall and go all the way till December. The other pic is of the lovely pansies my husband fills the porch planters with in spring. Please look past the molding wood of the porch that is due for replacement.

Yesterday there was no going anywhere and my library connection and best friend gave me the complete set of the BBC version of "Elizabeth I" with the great Glenda Jackson. All 6 VHS tapes at 90 minutes each. I really appreciated having them. On a more amusing note, my friend said that she would be attending a meeting today regarding violence in the workplace-I often wonder who will strangle who first in our Library. Will it be The Patrons vs Librarians or a grudge match of the Librarians vs The Clerks? Final scores to follow.

I am sorry I was unable to get the donation quilt in the mail to Fran in Colorado due to the ice, etc. It will go out Monday. The kids quilts will also go Mon. or Tues and while I'm at it the Heart quilt and backing should be going to Deb G. as well. It will be nice to clear up this batch and get to some work of my own. Even though I've been busy with this stuff, I haven't accomplished a thing myself. I hope to work on the 12x12x12 challenge soon. This months entries are really wonderful. It's such fun to see what everyone comes up with.

Well, I must go feed Nanuck of the North.

lizards and Dinos and bears, Oh MY!

I'm all about the borders today. We are also having problems with the Internet server or something geeky like that so I don't know how long I'll be able to chat with y'all(Hi JaneAnn)

I've also decided to donate the appliqued hearts top that has been languishing in the aforementioned CLOSET which is swiftly becoming shameless. It's a rainy day here so I won't miss the spring-like outings I've been taking.

This top, along with a number of others, was made as a learning experience and, like the other one, made during the height of menopausal mania. I needed something to do while I took care of my friend's children. She spent most days at the hospital with her husband who needed a kidney transplant and was very ill. He died not long after and every time I look at this I think of those sad days. She re-married a couple of years later to a shockingly horrid man who would have made her late husband angry just thinking about him. I'm not good at hiding my feelings about this type of thing and our friendship sort of came to a sad end. It's better that this top goes toward something good-thus removing the icky vibes every time I see it. It's going to the lovely Deb G. who performed miracles last time and I know it will be re-incarnated into something cheerful.
My husband went to physical therapy for his arm and we are hoping it will help. I was so wiped out last night I took a Benadryl and lapsed into a coma until this morning. Yay to sleeping through the night-Woohoo
I would like to thank the Academy...Oh, wrong speech-paper shuffling.......Thanks to you great ladies who left comments yesterday. Mel made me think about Hugh Grant as the lead in A Good Year. That could have worked-he kind of played that type in Bridget Jones Diary. I find it difficult to think of British actors without imagining Colin Firth in everything just so I can sigh....sigh. It made me laugh that Jeri uses the Feh. Feh is a term that gets thrown off the tongue like a spit but nicer. It's one of those Yiddish phrases that I learned at the feet of my Jewish co-workers in retailing. It has many purposes. Feh can mean whatever, with attitude and annoyance. I used it because when they sweep the beach they take away all the beachy stuff-shells, wood bits and my personal fav-beach glass.
A couple of years ago my friend and I were on the way to the Mall for a dress she needed for a wedding. As I was discussing a particularly unflattering style, I referred to it as a schmata, or Yiddish for rag. I thought she was going to loose control of the vehicle. She, a life-long New Yorker, never heard the word schmata before and thought it was the funniest word and best sounding description- now my waspy friend throws schmata into the conversation like she's been using it all her life. Great influence I am huh?Perfectly pleasant librarian type liberally sprinkling the Yiddish. I did have to explain that putz was a word she was using incorrectly. I don't remember what she thought it meant but it means men's manly bits(say that 3 times fast) and that's not the message she was looking to send. One must be careful of the correct usage when swearing in dialects(hee)
Hope you come back tomorrow for more fun with Dee. I need some caffeine...

Peekaboo& Wip-less Wed.

Sorry I've been away so long. Life gets in the way. Here you can see the donation quilt all bound and ready. All except for a label and a note to include to the lovely young woman soldier who will be receiving it. She is in a rehab facility in Colorado where she is recuperating from a gunshot wound to the eye. I hope this will bring her some comfort.

The handsome man holding the other side is James. Since he was off school and work and Roger was home we all trooped off the Sweet Mama's for lunch. Delish! I got absolutely nothing accomplished but it was a beautiful spring-like day. Sunshine and 56-yay!

Over the weekend I made Rian's braised short rib recipe which won rave reviews. Boy is that good eats! I watched "Marie Antoinette" which was all quirky and fun(until the end, of course) and drooled over the costumes. I had read the book by Antonia Frasier and I thought that Sophia Coppola's use of modern music was interesting. The costumes...well.....the shoes.....OMG. I'd watch again just for the rich fabrics and shoes. Of course the real Marie was a chunky little German like me so that was all wrong. Kirsten Dunst didn't have much to say and there wasn't really that much dialog. In fact it was a videolog of pre-revolutionary France and the disconnect between the royals and the common folk.

Then on Sunday, while the beef was braising, I watched "A Good Year" with Russell Crowe. I expected to dislike this movie based on reviews-all bad.That doesn't usually matter that much to me because I've liked some movies that get bad press and vice versa. I don't know if it was because I just wanted some light and frivolous comedy or what but I really enjoyed it. What's not to like about inheriting a vineyard in Provence? Russell did look a bit overblown like he had indulged in a bit too much of the grape-blowzy-but then I think that's just him. I do wish the trend to look hungover with a two day growth of beard would end though. He looked a bit like he needed a bath. I rated it on my Gladometer-"glad I didn't pay $10 bucks in the theater but happy I saw it."

I was not able to get in Little Miss Sunshine-maybe this week some time.

I am putting the binding on two kid quilts for Bethesda so I really don't have any Wips for today. Later, James and I are headed for Trader Joe's-he wants some soy stuff and I am after edamame and whatever. I have a lot of work to do for the Pantry but the weather is luring me out of my cave-like existence. Perhaps a little walk on the beach later? This is the time of year when you can find interesting shells and beach junk. Soon they will sweep everything clean-feh!

Eggplant Parm, flicks, and a snarky book revue

Here's what I've been up to today. Eggplant Parmesan ready to go into the oven. Nice red Montepulciano smelling delicious in the glass. Three movies and a book. I've been trying to keep busy and not think too much. Monday, I have my mammography early in the morning. I don't think there is something wrong but I guess I'm enough of a pessimist to not be so sure. It's that whole hubris thing again. Never be too sure of anything. Fate lies in wait. I'll be able to relax when they say I'm O.K. Until then, I'm great at worrying and keeping busy staves off the demons. Eggplant parm helps a lot. I guess the thing I really hate the most is being squished and scrunched to take the pics. I am, how you say, buxom with the fullness of the boobage.

I got this great book about Venice from the Library as well as a biography of Kathryn Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn. A veritable Hepburn festival. The Audrey book is clearly written by a man in love with his subject and is very gentle and sweet- not too much depth. The Kathryn is really bitchy. The guy has taken everything that everyone ever said about Kate and Spencer and Kate's life and slashed and burned his way through all of it mostly with conjecture. He writes with the premise of "if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck etc." regarding her sexuality and relationship with Spencer. All of the stuff may very well be true but the manner in which he writes is...well...bitchy and down right mean. Not a nice book. I tried to glean the stuff I hadn't read before about her and just sift away all the crap. I really couldn't care less about their sexuality- so what if she was bi-sexual and Spencer was a falling down nasty drunk. None of it came as a surprise but it's written with such venom. Anyway, it would have been great to know more about the events of her life and less about what he thinks might have been. Now- in a total turn around I was bored for something really fun to read last week and picked up a copy of Tammy Hoag's paperback "Prior Bad Acts"-what a fun, fast, read. Maybe it's just that I have read a lot of heavier stuff lately but it is light and well written murder mystery. I have to say I've read a couple of her books and she gets better with each book. Me likey! Fun stuff not much effort required...perfect for the mood right now.

I got Marie Antoinette just for the costumes and I heard that Little Miss Sunshine is pretty good. I got a good year despite it's horrible press because right now I would kill to see anything that takes place in Provence or any other wine country for that matter. I'm just so ready for the sun to keep shining and the flowers to start blooming C'mon spring! I'll be back with quilty content soon. On tomorrow's menu is Rian's recipe for beef short ribs. I hope I do her proud.

Addendum:If you haven't checked out the horoscopes on Crazy Aunt Purl(sidebar) you should. She has captured the Gemini so well. Also the story of her cats and their personalities makes soda come out of my nose from laughing.

WIP Wed & more of the hawk

These photos are really not great but it's snowing and the light is awful. I hope you get a better idea by clicking and enlarging. I made these blocks a while back. I had a misguided moment where I thought I would make them for a quilt for my son as a graduation present-Gad! what the hell was I thinking???? Well...I was thinking that he loves black and white checks and purples and such. Of course I soon came to my senses and realised that white....welll...WHITE anything for a young man. So I stopped at about 20 or so blocks and put them away for future consideration. I really like the graphic back and white mixed with the purples and deep pumpkin color. Wish I had more of that pumpkin fabric.

Yesterday I sewed the squares together. That's the extent of my sewing this past week. At least I managed to get something done and hopefully escape those winter blahs or blues. As I go around some of the blogs I notice I'm not alone in my disconnect from things artistic. A lot of really talented folks have been complaining about the same vague feelings. I don't recall feeling this way in winters past. Maybe it's a kind of defensive amnesia but I really used to like the whole inside working on quilts cavelike feeling. This year, in a winter with less snow and bad weather than usual, I feel all out of sorts. Well, this too will pass. I think my friend the hawk remained in whatever enclosure he hangs out in when the weather is not good. Just as well, I can waste a lot of time on standing chipmunk watch. My brilliant husband(hi Honey!) blew-up one of the pics and took out most of the glare for you to see more of the bird. I'll be back with better pics tomorrow. Here's a closer shot of the blocks.

I hear throught the grapevine that there are some quilts coming my way to bind for the QOV that the Quilt Studio is donating. I can't wait to see them in person. I promise to take better pictures when they're done.

Feeling hawkish

Here's what I've been up to for the last few days. We have a number of hawks in the neighborhood who unfortunately feast on such things as my beloved chipmunks and squirrels. Now and again you will see giant wings swooping down and making off with a fuzzy gray or brown thing and so it goes with the circle of life-Ugh! The raptors themselves are magnificent to see though. This one has a wing span of about 3 or so feet. I think you can enlarge by clicking the pics.

These last few days he has decided to make his perch on the front porch-directly over the little cinder block where the chipmunks launch themselves across the yard and where the squirrels feed on birdseed we put out for the mourning doves. You can tell when he's around because there isn't a living thing moving in the air or on the ground. I am fascinated my his size and patience. He let me open the door and move the camera around to get out of the glare of the door glass-well almost. He was getting a little skittish so this was as far as I could go. I'm about three feet from him. That's amazing and unfortunate at the same time. I think he belongs to our neighbor who has raised a number of raptors. He used to have peregrine falcons as well. The sun will be gone from this part of the porch soon and since it's 17 degrees out this morning(hello...where's my springy temps?) I suspect he will be on his way. I keep referring to the bird as a him when it very likely could be a female searching for food for the young. It just looks like bird who could kick the crap out of another bird and thus makes it male-like in my eyes. Silly really, since I could kick the crap out of a number of people myself. I would do this while frying up some bacon and bringing home the bread...cause I'm a woman W O M A N....Oh wait...where was I? The bird, yes...anyway, my fallow quilting period seems to be lessening and after a week of not sleeping but a few hours a night, I got a full night sleep last night.

I will be back tomorrow with something new to show for WIP Wed. For now I will follow the tale of the bird a few minutes more. I'm torn between not wanting it to leave and not wanting it to leave with anything cute and furry. I stand ever vigilant in defense of the chipmunk population.....This thing is actually big enough to carry off the neighbors cat.....meow

Even my WIPs have the blahs

I got some fabric from the Keepsake Medley mailing-it's a selection of Kansas Troubles fabric line. A little dull for this time of year-I wish they would consider the dark winter moods that prevail and perhaps they could send something that makes me go Yippee. The fabric is , however, beautiful-it's Moda and has a wonderful hand. I'm sure whatever I put it in will look lovely. I need to stop whining-sorry. I can't even stand the soound of my own inner voice(suck it up, Dee). I will not whine, I will not whine....
As you can see I'm still plugging along on the nine-patch. I really love the way those look. No matter what fabric you make them out of they're happy little blocks. I may set this on point and keep it simple-not sure yet. That is my style though. It will come to me as I work along. I don't often set out to make a copy of anyone's patterns. I kinda find this boring. It has to have a twist to it or I get ADD and will flit off to another project. For a girl that liked coloring inside the lines I have an amazingly short attention span.
The good news is that the temps are rising and the sun will make an appearance today. I have some errands and some Food Pantry work to catch up with so my day is kind of pre-planned already.
I hope you have some fun with your day.

building things-two ways

Not sure if I ever showed this- I made it for my husband last year. When he went on a trip with my BIL Bob to Alaska-I cut out the strips and sewed like crazy. I think he likes it. It certainly keeps him warm. I just picked out every blue fabric I owned and cut strips from all of them for the log cabin blocks-I set them in a barn raising pattern because we often visit Amish country in Pa. and he has always loved the actual act of barn raising where all the families come together to build for a person. If you've seen the movie Witness, you will know what I mean. They make a party, of sorts, out of the work and it speaks strongly of community and family. Two very important things to my husband. He's a wonderful man-I am a fortunate woman.

I have to go grocery shopping today. We are out of a number of things. It's gray outside but warmish. The snow will be gone in a few days with these temps-fine with me.

My son is cleaning out his closet. There are no clothes in there-only huge bins of Legos-He still thinks we bought them for him-truth be told-I bought them for me. The other night he was down on the floor putting together a boat and he made me laugh. We will put them away in the attic or basement for the grandchild to be---someday. I signed James up for the Lego Maniacs Club years ago and he has some very expensive sets-like the space shuttle and Ferrari and a fabulous pirate ship. Some pneumatic pieces as well.

The reason I mention this is that he has the same bad habits that his Mom has namely-Packratitis. This is only a very small portion of his collection. I think since they were all in his closet-we have a new member of the Closet of Shame Club in our house. I just never really thought about it much before. Oh well, I guess there are much worse things you can see in your kids. Like mother like son...I'm ok with that this time.

Regarding yesterday and the Oscar dress-up fun. thanks for the nice comments. I'm never sure which way to answer so I think I'll try to replay in the comments themselves. If you get a chance go over to the link on the right and click on Red Shoe Ramblings where Deb has a link to her interview with my dear friend Gerrie Congdon-fiber artist extraordinare..and all around smart cookie. Yay Deb and Gerrie. Anther link you should not miss is Kristen LaFlamme-one of the most original artists working in fiber today. She lives in Germany, for the time being, and also has many great photos of the wonderful festivals taking place there regularly. Kristen just did an exchange of art with Terry of And so It Goes-another great site. I'm not sure who got the best of the bargan-I would kill to have a piece by either of them. Terry's "Bird & Rice Bowl" is an all time fav of mine. Well I'll leave you with these assignments for today(hee) and get to the store-I'm hungry(big surprise there).

Playin' Dress-up

Here is the outfit I wore to the Oscars last night. What? You didn't see me?? How very un-observant of you. This came about because Deb of Red Shoe Ramblings (link on the right)asked us to play along and pick outfits we would wear if we were attending the show and we were the perfect Hollywood body type and could wear anything- I found a number of beautiful things but frankly-red looks Mahhvelous on me. Just ask my husband. I won his heart in the little red summer dress. Yesseree!! So I had fun doing something girly-girly. I live with 3 guys and so girly girly things are far and few between. If I were wealthy-I would buy these shoes just to look at them. Deb will understand...shoe fetish here! Can't walk in them but who cares.

I seem to be in the doldrums-much like a lot of other blog friends. As a skip around the blogging universe I notice that a bunch of people are feeling as blah as I am. Still working on the nine-patch piece and looking for a pattern for some very special fabric I have been saving for a quilt for myself which my generous husband has said he will pay to have quilted in the far off future when I finish it. (Whew-runonsentence) I have collected fat quarters of really lovely Robyn Pandolph fabric for a couple of years. I just can't decide what to make them into. They are pretty, soft, florals. I have a couple of ideas I may play around with.

Yesterday we attended a birthday coffee hour for my late MIL Dot's best friend, Evie. She is known as Aunt Evie to us and she's very well known in our village. It was nice to see her. We don't get to visit with her nearly enough and she's so thoughtful and funny. After that we all came home and vegged out for the rest of the day. Woke up this morning to 3+ inches of fresh powdery snow. It's warm so I hope it will go away soon. I'm ready for spring. Here's my other outfit and, of course-my Manolos. Oh Baby!

Going to play with fabric possibilities-see you soon.