Family love

Tomorrow is my husband's birthday. It is the beginning of another year that I hope will be a more healthy one for him and a happy one for us together. He's a wonderful man, husband, father, and most especially, friend. I can't think of anyone I would rather go to when there is something important to say or...just nothin' much. Just chatting away a morning over scrambled eggs and coffee.

Without his faith and help I'm not sure what would have become of my life. When we began, I was troubled and unsure of anything, mostly myself. He has protected me, showed me what true love is and given me the first safe place to dwell in my life. We are two connected souls.

If anything makes us different it is that he is the orderly yin to my chaotic yang. Further proof of his good soul is that he doesn't care about this. Now and again, we get a snow shovel (hey! not a bad idea) and some sort of minor order comes into our lives for a brief time. His measure of what is important in our lives is "does it make you happy?" He is the firm hand that gently pushed me into a good place. I wish there was a way I could do the same for him. His only fault is an streak of Irish stubborn a mile wide-but only when it comes to himself.

I cannot imagine how empty my life would be without him and my birthday wish for him, to that end, is that he would start taking better care of himself.

May you have many more birthdays and much more love. I read a biography of a famous artist. She said that everyday she would end by lying down and saying quietly in prayer, "thank you for my life" Nothing sums up my feelings more than that simple graceful sentence. I think it was Frida and I know it was a long time ago. Everynight since, that is the last thing I say after goodnight-Gracias por mi vida.

Fish Tales, Kid Congrats, and poor Dear

My staff photographer has taken a few shots of the garden and my personal favorite so far is the wild cherry. It's probably part of the reason that none of us can breathe right at the moment but it sure is lovely.

I have been celebrating the graduation of our son James from college and we are now awaiting the moment when he will have a full time, health benefits job since we are paying his medical insurance to the tune of $500. monthly. I can hear an audible intake of gasping breath when Roger writes out that check but we love the kid and we would wind up paying anyway if, God forbid, he gets sick.

Sorry for the lack of posts-life just seems to be getting in the way and I haven't anything quilty going on right now. It is the birthday season here and Roger's is on Friday. We will be having lobster rolls as requested and a possible lemon blueberry cake from the bakery in the village. You know the one, where you stop at the bank and take out a loan first. Good thing they make a really good lemon blueberry cake-and everything else as well. Mercifully, something happened to them in the bagel dept. I suspect because they are Danish they can't make a bagel to save themselves but in the scope of things-Meh! We are awash with bagel places here-some good. Some really bad! Some have lost the basic concept of the bagel all together. NY is bagel heaven-and bialy's as well. A real bialy is a lost art. There are few places where they actually make a real bialy anymore and what passes for them in grocery stores tastes o.k. if you've never had a real bialy all chewy and centered with real sweet onions. On that note, I never really write complaints to businesses but today I took the time to send a lengthy and concise diatribe to Stop & Shop. They opened a Super S&S right around the corner and it was, by far, a welcome relief from the other grocery stores around here, one of which is so dirty and has deli people who are full of tattoos and look like they need to be dipped. Dirty haired misanthropes that even the rubber gloves can't improve. I don't even want them breathing on my food-UGH! ANYWAY, So here comes this new store-all clean and sparkly and they have everything-flowers, drugs, health food, good and unusual meats, Japanese take out(futomaki, etc.) and deli and a seafood dept. Now, let me just say that I don't get mad easily about this stuff cause by now at this point in life I have come to realize that, 1. they really don;t care what you think in the long run, 2. Complaining only works for the first few months and then everything starts to slide downhill anyway. So in that vein-I don;t complain unless there's something so egregious that it just slaps you in the face. Also let me make a disclaimer-Stop & Shop contributes a goodly amount of money to the Food Pantry-really goodly. They believe in contributions to the neighborhood and civic whatever.

Again, ANYWAY....it's about part way into the 2nd year and last week I go shopping making my final stop the fish dept and futomaki for lunch. I am stopped in my tracks by the fish guy loading up a floor to ceiling case with prepackaged cellophane wrapped fish pieces. Fish in plastic people!! Plastic. and to make matters worse, my Japanese guy who makes the futomaki has been relegated to a tiny case where there are some pre-made rolls languishing and he is no-where in sight. Much grumbling and commiserating with the fish guy later I vow to send them an e-mail to corporate headquarters in Mass. Yesterday I get a coupon in the mail for 33% off of one fresh fish purchase from S&S which explains that my purchase will now be conveniently wrapped in self-serve packaging for my betterment. Who the hell do they think they are kidding. In this village there are no less than 3 fresh fish stores in a walking radius-what idiot thinks that anyone would buy FRESH???? FISH???? in plastic for any reason. So there you have it-my fresh fish rant. They fish guy told me they fired the manager of the fish dept and he's down to a few hours just to load up the case. UGH! fish in plastic...unspeakable little bits of indefinable fish in plastic trays. What the hell is this? It's a coastal island fishing community. The best part is the note on the coupon say, and I quote "Right off the boat, help yourself to first quality"

O.K. If you're still with me-fish rant over....

I'm still in the Curves groove and really enjoying it. I can't believe I actually look forward to it. There must be something to that "craving the burn" thing or wanting the endorphins to kick in. I can't wait to get there. Still a few issues with the right knee so I take that a bit easy.

I must go now and try to clean up the living room since I went out and bought a new recliner for Roger for his birthday. He is still in so much pain from the shoulder injury. Yesterday they made him go for an MRI and the position that his arm and shoulder had to remain in was very painful. He came home in terrible pain. After some Vicodin he was better but that stuff can knock you on your ass if you don't watch it. I hope things improve soon. He's like the rest of us-no patience for debilitating stuff and he can't sleep well with this. Thing is, before he went to the Orthopedic guy last week, the PT guy had him starting to get a glimmer of feeling better. Then the Dr. jerked around the arm and pulled or pushed something too much and now he's miserable again. Poor guy.

Off to get out the vacuum and dust stuff.

bloomin' beautiful

As soon as I took this gorgeous Calla Lily from my husband the other day-I immediately thought of Katherine Hepburn. If you're a movie fan like me you may know what I'm talking about. Famous line from a Kate movie-"the calla lilies are in bloom....sigh" There I go dating myself again.

O.K. Nuff about that. Anyway, aren't they lovely? There are three good sized groups of lilies that can easily be divided and made into 3 separate plants. Yipee! Also-today I noticed that the lily of the valley is out all over the front bank of our house. It's all the way around the other side of the house and very easily forgotten until it's too late. I could just go around there and sit in a pile of lily of the valley for the entire day-happily-breathing in the perfume. There really is nothing on earth that is as magnificent as the natural scent of flowers. After years of working in the industry-I can't think of a single flower scent that matches mother nature for clean, crisp, heavenly smell. When I was much younger we would sometimes go over to the Vanderbilt Mansion across the harbor and walk through the house. I enjoyed it but I was all about getting to the sun room and very elegant porch. It was a colonnade of lovely Spanish tiles on the floor and there in the center was a gardenia bush. It was very old and, they said, was installed there by one of the Mrs. of the family. Even then, 45 years ago, it was 50 years old so I imagine it may not be there now. All of the years since that day I am still reminded of the gardenia bush when I see a picture or am lucky enough to come upon an actual gardenia. No bottled gardenia perfume could ever capture that fragrance. I should probably go over there and check it out sometime.

I don't have much in the way of quilty stuff to show. Still working on finishing Dani's Mom's table runner. Needs binding but I think maybe that will have to wait till next week.

Today I took on the horrible task of going to find some work-out clothes as I only have one pair of pants I'm washing to death. Several suggestions from fellow Curves ladies. Turns out Sears, which I normally hate, has some decent and fairly low priced stuff for the gym(that's all they have) Can I just mention how much I hate cropped pants and Capri's. I really hate them. They look adorable on other people but on my 5' 3" chub-they really look stupid and feel stupid. No choice though so here I am wearing clothes I hate because the only other option was heavier weight winter stuff or plastic-feeling pants that need to be taken up about 5 inches. Can't there be a happy medium for the height challenged. As it is the cropped pants come to my ankle-not my most flattering part but at least not my, aptly named, calves.

Well, I'll leave you now for some prep work for dinner. Nothing exciting tonight. Homemade cole slaw, Kosher hot dogs, grilled baby potatoes, and fresh strawberries. In an act of self-preservation, I'm passing on the baked beans.

Spring in the 'hood

I had a wonderful weekend. My family, as usual, was great to be with and it was quiet and peaceful and somewhat delicious. We had ribs, sweet potato fries, home made cole slaw and corn bread from the new place around the corner. Folks down south would faint at what they charged for a rack of baby backs but we tried to ignore that(BIL Bob bought us the anniversary dinner we didn't get in Feb) and wow was it great. A pretty perfect day to remind me of how fortunate I am. Thanks guys!

I'm giving you a peak at the color of spring around here. As Roger said yesterday, "you wait all year for this color" It's a green that only appears for a brief time. Vivid and intense and in many shades from lime to deep forest. Very alive. Not that the garden is not beautiful the rest of the summer-it's just that spectacular spring green that inspires such bliss. The picture of the harbor is an interesting one because in a wekk or two there will be so many boats that you can nearly walk from boat deck to boat deck around the harbor. This is a brief blissful moment.

A while ago I came home from the grocery store and one of the 2 million trips (sigh) that I have to make there during the week, and this sweet cardinal was back again. Yesterday he practically sat for Roger while allowing photographs of his lovely self to be snapped. Today I was unpacking the stuff from my car and he landed not two feet from me in the gravel. I moved-he stayed-I moved some more...he stayed and re-positioned himself several times, as if to say "I'm ready for my close-up Mr. DeMille" He's still hanging around out there munching seed and looking wonderful against the grey and blue stone. I sort of wonder who he really is. Maybe a relative come home to visit? Is that you Pop? He won't say.

Well, despite the beauty of this day and it is stunningly pretty-I have the requisite crap to accomplish. Laundry, dinner prep. Crap waits for no one!

I promised my honey that I would re-create the meal that Lydia made on her show yesterday. It's a salad that includes roasted Vidalia onions dried black Greek olives, red bliss potatoes and green beans. Finished off with bibb lettuce and oil and vinegar dressing.I may throw in some cheese shavings and roasted peppers- so it's off to the grill. She made a scalopini with wild mushrooms with it but I think we will just have the salad and some good bread, fresh mozzarella and sopressata. Who's up for dinner???

Here are the accompanying shots of winter-Goodbye to all that!

7 random things

1. Despite the fact that I talk to you all on a regular basis, I'm sort of a loner and a hermit. I think it must be difficult to be friends with me. Terry says it's not but she's about my best and only true friend. I know a bunch of people associated with the Food Pantry and members of church groups etc.and folks here and there but none of those people really know me and I don't think I make it easy if they were so inclined. I must come across as a cold and distant person but I'm anything but- it's really just that I don't do the chit-chat stuff well. Even at Curves I noticed all the women are chatting along and I listen but it's rare that I add anything. Getting kicked around a lot when you are young tends to make Dee a painfully quiet and deeply shy person(stop laughing back there). It also makes me a great listener. You could talk and talk and talk and I'd be fine with that. When I do make a friend I am stupidly devoted. That tends to leave me disappointed in humanity a lot. Over the years I've found a way to force myself to be direct and forward and in the process fooled a lot of people into thinking I'm a very with-it kinda gal. Really, I'm still that little girl inside.

2. When I worked for a physician years ago, he had hired another woman to be an assistant at the same time. She loved to do secretarial work and I loved the Dr. stuff. When he was training her to be a surgical assistant she slid down the wall and had to be helped out of surgery from the sight of blood in a very minor procedure. I loved it and only had to restrain myself from verbally expressing my fascination with all things surgical. Like this- "wow would you look at that!" Dr. Zimmerman thought it was funny but told me I had to get a grip on my enthusiasm. He did train me to handle the surgical stuff and looking back on it-why not. I was smart and young and he didn't have to pay me anything. I was in heaven just observing. It was the best and most interesting job I ever had. Unfortunately, he had no medical insurance and paid next to nothing. I was single and young and poor-did I mention young? It was still always exciting and always great fun.When he went on vacation I would borrow his medical texts. How boring can you get huh?

3. I know stuff. Not sure if that makes sense but I have a gift for language and history and stuff that puts most people to sleep. I think it began as something that helped me survive my past. I would lock onto a subject and there were not enough books on the subject to suit me. Obscure things-like studying religions.I will hunt down everything I can find on specific subjects and useless details. It was bad enough before the Internet-now it's just a black hole into which I can easily fall. My friend Terry uses me as a party trick. We will be in a group of people and she will constantly say, "Hey-ask Dee about????" Like someone will do to the guy who can recite all the Presidents backward. Who knew I'd be a living party game and I'm hell at Jeopardy.

4. I was born in Germany. In an ancient medieval town-Augsburg. I came here when I was 3ish and so have no trace of that language even though we spoke it at home for years.

5. Fear of failing has influenced me to a horrible degree. I think it's all part and parcel of the agoraphobia and hermit thing. Part of me is afraid to get started and part is afraid of failure-deadly combination. Just going to the gym everyday is a concerted effort. Not hard, just something I think about for more than a passing moment. I am proud of myself for making it thus far. If I could only apply that to art...hmmmm. Those that can't do-teach?? I'm great at teaching people how do make stuff.

6 I worked a job from the time I was 12 until I had James. My family was in the restaurant business with loads of connections-I was a bus-girl for years-coat check for some time and waitress briefly. Spent a lot of time growing up in kitchens with crazy cooks and crazier waiters and learned a lot of Spanish from busboys(some Italian too)

7. I was a teenager in the late 50s early 60s and the town we live in was so small that I learned to drive at about 12. I can remember driving through the village at that age. My family knew all the cops and I'm not sure if they just turned a blind eye or what but at that point the car was my escape. The family members used to send me out on all kinds of errands-it was fun and my escape.

O.k. that's 7 . and I hate to tag people so tag yourself if you haven't done it already.

I'm in the throws of an awful sinus and allergy thing and I'm going to take something for the headache and put my feet up for a while. Such a beautiful time of year to feel so crummy-snort.

allergies 1- Dee 0

Here's a shot of the table runner I made yesterday. I had the blocks made a few weeks ago and finally put it together. I love this fabric. It was a Keepsake medley of the month some time ago. It's kind of amazing what you can get out of a package of fat quarters. I used this fabric medley to help my friend Diane make a table topper last year and had enough left over to make this with the addition of only a few strips from another couple of fat quarters. Not sure what I'm doing with this but we are coming into the dreaded birthday season. My husband's birthday is May 25th as is Uncle Don's, and Dani's Mom. Cousin Dottie the 27th, mine June 10th, James June 12th, James's girlfriend Dani June 17th as is my best friend Terry's. It's a month long birthday festival. I may use this as a gift for one of those occasions. I think I'll quilt it with different size circles all over. I did this with another piece years ago and liked the way the circles looked on the very square design.

Allergies have got us all down to a certain degree. My poor husband is really suffering. In addition to his shoulder injury-he has not slept a full night in a while. He's really wiped out. This year I am having a lot bronchial problems. When I cough it sounds like I have a bad cold-I don't, it's just the seasonal ick. I may resort to an inhaler but I try to avoid it if I can. I hate that funny, dizzy, feeling you get from it. I am walking on the treadmill today-Curves tomorrow. See you later...

takin' the long way home

Sorry for not blogging much this week-I've been hanging out with my little friends.
Seriously, I'm so sore from the increased activity that I'm making my way around rather slowly from one thing to the next like a robot. I am beginning to feel better but then I knew I would have a couple of bad weeks going in to this exercise program. I like it and it's making me feel good mentally and sort of physically. Not quite in the dancing in the streets mode yet-keep an eye out for me on your block. Yesterday they played a bunch of Beach Boys stuff to accompany the work-out. I am waiting for the day when I too will be dancing and bopping like some of the other gals. This increase in activity comes at the worst time of year for me-I am barely able to breathe through my nose and the pollen is making me feel awful. Yesterday I thought I could lay down and sleep for the whole day. My body ached and I felt like a bus hit me. Today-the sun is shining(big factor in attitude)and I feel much more like it's doing me some good.
I'm not getting a lot done in the quilting-sewing world. I sent out a box-o-books to Tommy the Material Girl yesterday. She was looking for a bear pattern for a baby quilt. While I had that one ready to go I just threw in two other books that had a lot of baby stuff that I know I will never use again. I'm sure I will make baby quilts again but Tommy was interested in applique and I have come to the sad realization that my eyes and hands are just not that comfy doing that stuff anymore. I think that's why I'm really enjoying the fusible applique stuff so much. I could do the regular applique but as we all know, I have issues with perfection and so I would make my little hands into tiny little angry mitts of pain. At this point in my life I've pretty much decided to take the "if it doesn't feel like fun, I'm not doing it" approach to my art. Taking a meaningful line from some deep thinking sage..."if not now-when? If I don't enjoy what I'm doing now pushing that 60 hard, when exactly will I feel comfortable in my artistic shoes??? I think this is the great thing about being this age. You finally let go of so many useless things and hopefully some stupid expectations. I was always a woman who needed to get dressed and put on my make-up before being seen in public. These delightful woman I work out with are helping me not feel self-conscious about how I look. It's very liberating to someone who thought she was fairly liberated to begin with. A new approach perhaps.In so many ways, peace is what I'm after. Like giving away the two quilts to charity and the books I've given away lately. It's all leading to lightness-hopefully of spirit and body.
I would kill for a piece of chocolate

Oh the shoes!!! and progress on the bright blocks

I got this sweet little book at the Library the other day and I can only call it eye candy for the shoe lover. Every page is filled with beautiful pictures and some of the simple ideas are fun. Like embellishing flip flops with ribbon, beads or flowers. Most of the shoes are seriously theatrical but just stunning to look at. Fun.

These are a few of the blocks I made yesterday with the brights. I'm really enjoying this very much. It's very liberating, cheerful, and relaxing.
I have just come from my work-out at Curves. My right knee is still bothering me but I took it easier today on pace. My natural pace of walking is rather fast and I find that I zoom in and plow ahead too fast. I must relax and enjoy the journey more. Funny thing today though. I got on the first machine and looked across the room only to see my next door neighbor on one as well-we both had a good laugh about that. Joan is a lovely woman who was friends with my late MIL Dot. She's probably in her 70s and going along pretty well. Gives me hope
Well, not sure I'll post again till Monday. Lots of stuff to catch up with in the house and I have to strike while the energy level is high.

color riot-get out your sunglasses

Look at the difference in these pictures!! These are the same blocks-wahhappend?? They really look moe like the ones on the right.

I'm experiencing a burst of energy and it's affecting my color choices. I really want to work with brighter and happier colors-reflection of attitude..maybe...probably. Whatever is causing it-it's fun. I found a PP pattern for pinwheels on a Carol Doak program I have and printed out some yesterday. When I was choosing fabric I kept on going to the very bright happy stuff. and thus you have this riot of color. I have a lot of fat quarters of this bright hand dyed looking stuff (maybe Cherrywood) it's made to look almost like suede and I love this stuff. So I pulled out that and some of the wilder stripes I bought not knowing what I would do with them but knowing I had to have them-they are cotton happiness. New box of crayons. I like this. I know these colors are startling to some people but I see them often on sites like Anna Maria Horner and Heather Bailey and JuJu. I really have fallen inlove with this palette. When the Kaffe Fassett fabrics first came out I was taken back by the fact that I liked them-liked them very much. This is not the type of fabric that I have bought in the past-but that's just it...I think that there may be less of that traditional fabric for a while for me.

Some years ago I had a wonderful woman who was counselling me through a rough time and knew that I had these artistic tendencies. She asked me what I would do if I had all the room, supplies and time I wanted. We discussed that all of the things I usually did were very small and precise. Sort of constipated art(sorry but that's the best description I can think of)by someone who is trying to break free of what I have been taught is right and what is within. We discussed several people who I really find wonderful, and to me, worked in a large format-sometimes with intense, vivid colors-Diego Rivera, Fernando Botero-then the grand sweeping American landscapes of Edward Hopper Charles Demuth, Winslow Homer, and so on. I wondered what it would be like to just go wild with abandon-art wise. Anyway, this is by way of saying that I think I'm moving into a bit more of a free and easy approach to color and having fun with this thing called being creative. Joyous-if you will. Huh...whoda thunk...joyous.

what's this you say? Well, I've shown the geese on black before but yesterday Rian mentioned and showed the gorgeous fabric she has dyed to make vests with geese on black. I really must do something with these blocks sometime soon.

I took a day off from Curves-I go back tomorrow morning. I can't tell you how much I ache in places I didn't know could ache. It's o.k. though-I feel like I'm doing something good-having a hard time with my right knee though. All the machines there are great and they feel good even using them but the in between where you jog or run in place(that's walking in place for me)is bothering my knee. I think I'll just take that aspect a little slower. There is a woman at Curves on Wed. who I would guess is 10 years older than me and a tiny bit of a thing. She doesn't just jog in place-she levitates and bounces and dances-good grief she puts everyone in the room to shame-I want to be her when I grow up

quick ideas for a good read.

Get yourself these books-borrow them,buy them, whatever. Eat Pray Love is the best book I've read in a very long time. I could hardly put it down. It's about life after emotional disaster. I wish this book was around a couple of years ago. It's up-lifting and beautiful. The author makes you feel like you are having a chat with dinner and wine. I can't believe how good it makes me feel to read it. I no longer belong to the church I grew up in for various reasons which I won't go into here but I am a woman of deep and abiding faith. After Sept. 11th 2001 my faith was shaken to the core along with many others. It left me emotionally bereft and in a kind of suspended animation I have never felt before-even when I was in the throws of depression years ago. This book addresses that in the most interesting way. It's really like having a conversation with a friend who has hit bottom and is talking about the journey back. Good reading.

The other book is one I haven't read yet but have on order. It's a fascinating look at a whole other worlds thirty stories up in the air inthe Redwood tree canopy. The guy was on NPR discussing it and my husband said it sounded fascinating. I read the Times review on Sunday and even though I'm far from a tree hugger-I can't wait to read about this newly discovered little micro-planet way up in the trees.

I'm off to exercise now- see you later.

Ahoy Babes,

Here I am with all my friends standing watch on the topside. Hey-where are you guys???

I have returned from Curves with lots of energy and feeling superfantastic. made it through the workout and the stretch and with only a bright red face to show for it. After about an hour and a cold shower-I went to the grocery store to get more salad fixins and such-stopped by to pick up some futomaki for lunchmmmm and home to drink lots of water and collapse in a heap of virtuousness. I am now the good me.

Seriously-the woman at my local Curves is a gem. She walked me through everything including the stretch with great humor and sweetness. I could have stayed another half hour. It was, dare I say it, fun. It played out at the grocery just like I imagined. Everytime I looked at something really forbidden I thought about how long it would take to work that item off my large belly bits.

I stopped at the Library to see my best friend-who it turned out had a day off and appears to be hiding somewhere-I'll root her out later. Picked up an old copy of Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking-fun book. and the new Nelson DeMille-love him. Well I've done more than enough for the moment-Good Book, futomaki, cold iced tea, feet up. See you tomorrow.

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.