Trying Windows live writer..fingers crossed

After taking a break of several hours I decided to give it one more go and set up windows live writer. Don’t want to jinx myself but it looks like it might work. I don’t have much more time to devote to it today but here are a few details. I am leaving for a few weeks to attend my neices wedding and to spend some time with family in a beach house before the wedding. On that note I have spent the last few weeks very busy adding to the economic upturn(huh?) by buying a lot of new clothes and shoes and travel stuff. I haven’t really bought any new clothes in quite a while-probably since Roger passed away. So I closed my eyes and held my nose and just went for it. Many trips to Kohl's, Chico's, Coldwater Creek, Lands End, Dress Barn, and other assorted places to drop a bundle, I think I have enough to get by. I still have a couple of things to do like hair cut and color next week and a trip to Ulta for cosmetic stuff. I still have a big list but it’s looking like light at the end of the tunnel and it appears not to be a train.

The house building is on hold till around very early June. It’s all ready to go-we got the permits and think we have a contractor who is making up an estimate. I’m going to really live it up on vacation since I may have no sheckles left soon. The past weeks have been taken up with travel stuff and the next many months will be a complete chaos mixed with a lot of theatre. I’ve been on the outside looking in on friends who have gone through that theatre so now it’s my turn. I hope to have a new camera and have some pictures after we get back. Both the trip and the build should provide plenty of fodder.  I have done no sewing or quilting except finishing a baby quilt for a young woman who is an unwed Mom to be shortly. I had an extra top made from that Whimsy fabric in a checkerboard pattern. The mother to be is a high school student- a friend of a friend of Terry and can use all the sweetness we can give her. It’s a lonely place to be for her. I’m hoping the quilt for her baby will make her smile.

That’s all I have time for today and I’m about to hit Publish. Fingers crossed….

miss you all but blogger sucks...big time. Can't do this anymore

enough!!

Small proof that I haven't been captured by a band of roaming Gypsies. Life around here is just a little busy right now. Alright, a little busy is not nearly strong enough. There is so much to be done of an organizational nature(eeeeeek)that I just grabbed some plastic bags off the shelves the other day and decided to see what was in them. Pieces of the above quilts-that's what. I finished the rows on the Avignon/Sandy Klop piece and put a border on it. It will make a sweet little wall hanging for a new space and there will certainly be lots of those coming soon. The Bali hand dyed blocks just needed to be put together and that will most likely be the same. A small wall hanging.

When I made the last baby quilt I was together enough to make a lot of nine patch blocks (above in Whimsy fabric) for a second quilt and good thing I did. I'm currently finishing that top for a niece's baby. This fabric has been a favorite of mine but now that I'm on the third quilt made with it, I think I've seen it enough for a while. It goes to the shelves and will stay there for a while.

The happy couple is coming with Lucy later to have dinner with me. I have some work to do around here before that. It's another bright shiny day in January(unbelievable joy) however the sunshine just points up the amazing amount of dust I have ignored for too long. Off to Vacuum with the super sucker and do some laundry. Maybe I can work in a little sewing before they arrive.

I almost forgot to mention that I bought one of those light therapy lamps from Amazon. It should be here in a couple of days. Many of my blog friends have mentioned that they are aflicted with SAD which is essentially a feeling of depression and sadness in the winter time from the change in daylight hours and sunlight. These lamps are supposed to help with that by flooding the room with light that mimics sunlight. You need to have it on at least an hour and they recommend it in the morning and even as a wake up light. I read a couple of reviews that also mention how much better the light is for reading. I'll let you know how it turns out.

ALSO...what the hell is up with Blogger? No matter how I configure a page as soon as I hit publish it totally screws everything up and re-configures the page any old weird way....Grrrrrr

Talk soon...

Dude!!

Me and the boys want to fill you in on the latest.....Aren't these the best looking pair? Let's face it-Corgis have taken over my life and heart.

I thought that since I have no sewing to show for myself maybe the boys would make up for it. I found them on Google and since I am mentally 12, this is the best I can do to razzle dazzle you with stuff so you won't notice how the name of the blog is soooo not what's going on.

Rumor has it that Lucy made off with a hot blueberry muffin last night. I hear that she swallowed it whole and then realized that it was still pretty hot. Much water was scarfed but Lucy says that food filched from people always tasted best-even hot.

We had a meeting with our architect to finalize some design ideas followed the next day by a measuring session where they went from roof to basement and all around. Measuring for the final drawings to take to the Town for approval. It's a bit of a crap shoot as to how things will be received and how long it will take to get permits. Meanwhile, we have to audition some contractors that have been recommended by various people. Fingers crossed, we can begin construction in spring. Essentially, the entire older portion of the house, my in laws original house before we added on ours, will be torn up and re-constructed. I figure on a lot of noise, a lot of dust, and a lot of patience needed by all of us. Hmmm. Noise cancelling headphones may be the way to go for me. One of the really good things is that we will be getting a large dumpster and that means that I can go into the attic and get rid of things from 1990. How very easy it is to close that door and go on with life. Ugh, wnat a lot of junk up there.

In the meantime we are planning a big trip to a wedding in late spring. Our niece is getting married Memorial Day weekend and my BIL Bob has spent a long time trying to get the best flights and reservations. The whole famdamly is going so there is much to co-ordinate. We have a friend who is consruction savvy and will take the reigns while we are gone. It often seems like nothing happens for years and then all of a sudden you have two very important things at once. Like tv, there's nothing on for two months and then one night every darn thing is on at 9pm on Sunday. I have no tech skills so even though I hear rumors that I have a tivo-like service on our cable, I haven't figured it out yet. That leaves me with The Good Wife and Downton Abbey to sort out. I'm a big fan of Good Wife but just now I am reading about Lady Almina Carnarvon who is the basis for the wife in Downton Abbey. It's a really fun book to read and taken from hstorical documentaion by the current Countess of Highclere. Highclere is the castle where Downton is being filmed. There are chapters on the upstairs and the downstairs. Fun reading for me anyway. Unless you are a history buff you might find it all boring. I am also reading Moveable Feast, it's a compilation of stories by famous writers in various countries and their memories of meals in those places. Great stories, I highly recommend it. Anthony Bourdain does the forward.

I'm not sure if it's a good thing but we have yet to have the white stuff falling outside. Don't want to say the word for fear of jinxing it. It did turn bitter cold in the last day though. Bright and sunny for now so ....whew.

I better attend to some laundry and think about dinner-or maybe I'll just go get the Kindle Fire and read some more about Lady Almina. Oh! I almost forgot. I finally read a book I have had forever and it just got lost in the shuffle. I'm a big fan of Alice Hoffman and The Red Garden is wonderful. It is written in her special style. All the stories a about a town in the Berkshires from it's inception to the present. The stories are rally wonderful, sort of magical, and every bit Alice Hoffman. If you have read Practical Magic or Blackberry House you will remember the way she writes. Her characters are often imbued with some type of magical powers or abilities to survive terrible things. She makes the people jump of the page. There are not a lot of true storytellers left in the literary world but Alice is one of the best. Magical realism

Talk soon.

The unexpected sweetness of life

Not sure what to write about today until I made a trip to the grocery store. Strange where small moments of sweetness pop up. I don't usually have too much good to say about grocery shopping-the price and quality and annoying clerks are usually the main topics. Today, I had this lovely experience.

One a week(sometimes more) I go to the Sushi bar at the grocery store where a very kind and well mannered young man began working about a year and a half ago. The bar is called Danny Sushi and over the course of this past year + I have gotten to know him a bit. We became friendly and a stop to chat was always on the list for me. About half way through the year+ he began to ask me if he was saying things correctly in English and would I correct him if not. I told him I would be happy to help. Then when I did help him with different confusing things he would add some little treat to my purchases-free of charge. Crab rolls, Shrimp shumai, stuff like that. I told me one day that he would make any rolls that I wanted. Even ones that normally don't appear in his case. This led to some very delicious things. He made me Futomaki and Tamago rolls. And so it went for months. Last week I picked up my sushi and gave him a nice pair of gloves commenting that his hands needed protecting since they are the hands of a Master. We laughed and wished each other a good holiday and that was that. Today I stopped by to wish him a happy New Year. He had made me my favorite rolls and shrimp shumai when he saw me in the store-all free of charge. I nearly wept -it was the most touching thing from this man who barely knows me. A tiny gift but full of special care and goodness. We did the bowing to each other thing which, if done well ,can lead to much laughter. You bow, I bow, you bow again, rinse, repeat. Very funny.

There is much to be happy with in the world. Most of it is the sweet stuff, the tender stuff and the small gifts of friendship.

I want to thank you for the gift of yours and wish you a simple, sweet and healthy year ahead.

All the news that's fit

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, or depending on what you celebrate, a lovely day. I'm almost afraid to mention that the weather is still kind of wonderful for December. It will turn around soon, I'm sure, so until then...woohoo!

I managed to get through the day, despite some feelings of sadness, because I started my day with a visit from Lucy. The Happy Couple had brunch with Dani's family and left Lucy here to enjoy the full-on spoiling of the pup. I was pretty proud of myself for the job I did on Christmas dinner. Roger was the chef who handled the big jobs in the kitchen like Leg of Lamb and Prime Rib. I had never before cooked a Prime Rib. Now I have. With such an expensive piece of meat I panicked a little thinking about turning it in to pot roast instead of the juicy roast it should be. Yay Me! It could have been a little more rare but the last 15 minutes made for a bit more done than I would have liked. Still, it was soooooo goooood. Nine pounds of gooood! I missed the fun that we used to have of cooking together but all in all it was a lovely day. We finished the left overs yesterday.

Dani & James surprised me with a Kindle Fire. It was a really big surprise and I played with it all day yesterday. So many apps! I downloaded several games and played so much yesterday that I ran down the battery by 10 last night. I guess the games take a lot of power. Anyway, I love it. My best pal Terry got one too. To illustrate the difference between her and I-I have books and games-she will download practical things like notepads and financial stuff. She really is the adult in this relationship.

Further good news, we got the preliminary plans for the new addition on the house as well as an estimate of the cost. Big Gulp but not that surprising. Now we will have to decide what gets done and what waits for another day. The new house and the refurbishing of the old section will be our priority right now. Some of the other stuff goes into the maybe next year file. The 3-car garage is the biggest thing that will have to wait. It adds nearly a hundred thousand dollars to the total. That's a hundred thousand too much right now. It's this type of thing that makes me miss Roger the most. He would have handled this whole thing with no mental trauma. Me...not so much. I will just have to wrap my little brain around the thing and take big breaths.

I'm going to clean up the house today and make a trip over to the cemetary. Roger's headstone was placed on his grave a few days ago. It took a lot of time since I had a beautiful locomotive etched on to the stone for my train collector. Now that it's up I'll go and put some greenery there.

I'm learning to live with my feelings not overwhelming me all the time. Life is not so bad, it's just different and I guess I have to live with that. Or maybe a better way to put it is to live with it at peace. I've been very angry and sad for so long. Like a great heavy thing to carry around daily. The weight seems less now and I work at not being angry & sad daily.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year. Hope to be back soon.

new day

I wrote the last entry in an effort to get what is probably known as closure- it's time to try to move along. Thanks to my dear friends who have virtually held my hand and cried with me.
Time to stop crying and get busy living.




Hey! It's almost Christmas!!
I've decided that I need a little of that.


For the past few days I have been trying to shake off the remnants of the flu. All I can say about the flu is WOW. Didn't know the body could do that. Not pretty at all. When the sight of food on the Food Network makes you nauseated you know it's bad.


Before the on-set of the flu last week we had a visit from the Architect who will be drawing up the design for our house construction. It was exciting and a lot of fun to watch James & Dani talking about their wishes and desires for their home. BIL Bob put in his needs and wants-new bathroom suite and bedroom re-design in the old wing of the house to include a sitting room/office area. The decision to totally destroy the killer staircase in the old house. My Late FIL Jim built that part of the house and as much as I loved him...he had no instinct for design. He was an engineer in aerospace development. Aesthetics...not so much. Never has there been such a steep, narrow dark staircase. Still, his good original bones of a house will be a good base.
All of the things that need attention in my world are cosmetic. New floors and appliances-full paint job, new oven and vent hood and after the financial dust settles, a slightly larger kitchen and desk/computer area. That can wait till we see how far our shekels will take us.
Right now, the most important part is to get the kids into a house and out of their shockingly expensive, massively overpriced apartment. In order to accomplish that we need to make Bob a nice new space. He is of the opinion that he does not want to negotiate stairs anymore so his suite will be on the lower level and privately accessible. Since Bob loves to sit on the porch we will build him a new one. The one he has now sits where the new part of Dani & James house will be. I'm waiting, not too patiently, to see what the architect has in mind.
Today is Lucy day..woohoo. That will keep me busy.
Also in breaking news-two beautiful babies were born in the last two weeks. A nephew for me and a baby girl for my hair dresser Diane. The quilt made from Whimsy fabric has finally gone to it's new home.

The Year

Ordinary days winding along in familiarity
Do the dishes
Clean the kitchen, load the dishwasher
The phone rings
In a moment life changes forever in all the worst ways possible.

Love suspended
Your life disappears before your eyes


The love of your life remains only in photos that tug at the heart
Silence is less than golden It is, in fact, frozen and icy
Everything you believed about your life ends with the electronic drone of a machine that counts breath and heartbeats.

You find yourself awash in space
Your bed is enormous, yet you only fill up half.
Half the pillows still can't muffle the cries "Can you still hear me?" "Please God, let him hear me?"
You think of all those guilty moments you had wished for more personal time. More of that illusive peace and quiet. Both are a blessing and a curse.
You have two of so many things.
Cars, clothes, shoes, papers, magazines, the list goes on.



Friends watch you become someone else. Changed forever.
Things that seemed so important all pale.
All of the issues of so-called importance lay at your feet in printed words that neither move or excite the passion they once stirred.
For now nothing matters
Nothing really brings smiles but once in a while the sudden loud outburst of laughter at some TV dialog makes the room ring reminding you of how very empty a space it is. You are guilty of surviving.

People remind you about time healing things.
All it reminds you of is that nothing will ever be the same.
No warm embrace
Big arms will not warm this frozen heart again
Tears may stop
Time will pass
Memories will fade until the sharp intake of breath comes at remembering those private, funny, gentle hours.
No one will ever look at you like that again.
The absence of this love is forever



Drag yourself through the year from one event to the next
Grateful for the remaining family diversions and distractions.
At the end of it, you must find a way out of this fog
Hold on to what is left
Remember what is lost
Pray for inspiration that lasts more than an hour at a time
Try to save the day for yourself
Make a new life

Live on

Sometimes you forget to look back...

I was cleaning up some stuff on the computer and I saw a few posts ago that I had gotten a message from Christine Thresh asking about Potato, bacon and cheddar soup. Sorry Christine-for 2 reasons. I missed your comment and I'm one of those people who cooks by the seat of my pants. I always vow that I will make a recipe and write down the step by step and then I hardly ever do. In this case I happen to have a recipe of sorts. You may want to pare down the quantity but even though this seems like a lot for one, I really love keeping left overs in the fridge for lunches or dinners during the week. It keeps very well for about a week or more not that it lasts that long usually around here. When I have a leftover rotisserie chicken I shred the breast and add it when re-heating. It's good like that too. I never freeze this soup since it makes the potatoes grainy and mushy when you defrost it.


6-8 slices thick cut bacon cut across grain into diced pieces
1 large onion- diced medium
1 cup celery - dice medium
4-5 medium potatoes cubed. I use Yukon Gold or red bliss-they hold their shape and don't get too mushy.
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1-32 oz. Kitchen Basics chicken stock (no salt)or a good strong stock you made.
1 small can cream of chicken soup
2 good handfuls of grated cheddar-I use 4 cheese Mexican by Sargento just because I have it on hand from enchiladas.
4 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup milk or fat free half and half(I like the half & half)
salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven cook the bacon on med. high slowly until it's very crisp and rendered. Spoon out to drain on paper towels. Leave about two tablespoons of the bacon fat and throw in the onion and celery until tender.

Add the potatoes and saute them a little with the veg. in the bacon fat 5-10 minutes keep stirring.

Add the entire container of chicken stock and the can of cream of chicken.

If you find the potatoes are not fully covered add a bit of water or more chicken stock. Stir well and let simmer till the potatoes are fork tender.

In a bowl mix the sour cream and half&half till creamy-add to pot and stir. Taste for seasoning. If the soup seems too thin-make a little roux with the broth and flour and whisk into pot. Cook a few minutes longer to cook the flour.

Throw in two good handfulls of shredded cheddar and stir into soup until everything is nicely blended. Last thing before serving throw in bacon pieces and parsley-stir and serve.

As with many of these chowder dishes, they taste even better the day after.


Hope you enjoy Christine! Sorry I didn't see your comment sooner.

How lucky am I?

I am the lucky recipient of this beautiful Madonna piece from my good friend Debra. I cannot seem to take a decent picture lately so I hope you can get an idea of how lovely it is. Here is a better shot on Debra's blog http://debraspincicdesignstudio.blogspot.com/search/label/Madonna%20Quilts-Small

It will be on the wall keeping the "Dear Mother" Madonna I got earlier in the year company. She puts so much work into these wonderful quilts. I'm sorry the detail isn't better. Lovely lace bits and pretty buttons surround the image and great emboidery frames the image itself. Thanks Debra. I treasure both these Madonnas and I think the best thing for me to do to preserve them better is to have them framed. Otherwise I see them getting too dusty with time and that would be a shame. If you haven't seen Debra's work-make time and enjoy . Along with being a generous person, she is sublimely talented and as busy as a bee. I first discovered her work when I was looking for Madonna images and quite by accident came across her blog. Back then I couldn't imagine being fortunate enough to have any of her work. Now I have two!!

I'm going to finish up a couple of things for the Food Pantry and them head to the machine. It's a lovely sunny day here but all I can see right now is my super dirty windows...Long past time for a good cleaning. Maybe this time I should hire someone.
Talk to you soon.

walkin' the dog

I don't know what's going on with blogger but I'm losing my patience. No matter how I design the page to look it re-sets everything with huge blank spaces and I can't seem to figure out how to stop it. Sorry for the way these posts are laid out but it just does it's own thing and becomes very very frustrating

Welcome to the fall on our property. Hundreds of trees insure a blanket of many colors. It's very beautiful but best not to ask my son about it right now. He's got the blower and the rake out and is tackling the big yard cleanup. He will growl at you when provoked. I'm really just kidding. He's always been the most important part of the fall yard work. He's the one with the best back and, for now, the best stamina. You can see some of what I have mentioned about the climb up to my house. This first picture is only half the climb up. There's about another 100 feet up to the back porch.

Here's Lucy wondering what there is to stop and fool around with when a walk is calling.

These shots are from Thursday while we were off on the wildlife hunt. We still have a huge amount of leaves on the trees and the weather is different every day. Hotish, cold, really cold, semi-hot. Weather lottery.

I am doing some shelf stocking tomorrow at the Pantry and helping with the children's groups remaining to be seen. We have such abundance at this time of year it's incredible to see what the shelves look like now as opposed to February and August. Not getting a lot of sewing done but I wanted to check in to say HI!

Aunt Chilada's for dinner...yum

Talk to you soon.

knew it would happen one day.

First, let me show you a photo of my faithful sentry. She is standing guard because, I kid you not, there's a buck with antlers and a lot of horns, outside on my property. I very nearly came face to face with it a while ago and we had a stare down which resulted in scaring the crap out of both of us. What I did see before moving inside was that he had a wound on his shoulder and it appears that someone tried to shoot him but was not successful except to graze him. He's over on the property next door right now and I'm trying to get a better shot but it's through a window and the screens are still on so everything I shoot comes out screened...rats. Anyway, I can't get blogger to let me move photos again so here is the only one I could get so far. He's the brown spot in between the two tree trunks about center. I'm hoping since he was moving in the direction of traffic that he will return to the relative peace of our property. Lots of places to hide. I guess I'm going to call town hall to let them know since I wouldn't want him to run into traffic and have anyone, including him, get hurt.

We've always known that we would encounter deer some time in the near future since the east end is covered with them. Out at the Lab where Roger worked they were on protected federal land and he would stop to photograph them in huge numbers of 100 or more. Trouble was they starved in the winter. As enormous as the land is out there it's not enough to sustain huge herds like that. There was a plan to allow hunting for a limited time but a great outcry from Peta people put the squash on that. Let me just say that those same people pulled up their tents and left the animals to die of starvation once they had their publicity finished. Not nice.

Anyway, Lucy and I have just come back from our walk where we went in search of the deer. No sign of him. Hope that wound wasn't worse than it looked. I see that the police are around looking for him. Don't want to know how that will turn out...

I'm kind of tired today since yesterday was spent at the Food Pantry with multiple visitations of Brownie Troops and Cub Scout Troops delivering food. One of the funniest parts is that the kids get so excited when you tell them that they can unpack their items and place them on the shelves. I bet if their Moms asked them to help unpack groceries they would run like the wind. We were so grateful for their enthusiasm since they had a couple of hundred bags of groceries and that would have meant a lot of bending and lifting for Sally and I. They had lots of good questions too. The Moms obviously had prepared them well and good for them. We've had kids who come in and stand like zombies. That's a touch audience. By the time we were finished late afternoon, I stopped for sushi and treated myself to dinner. Then I fell asleep. Those kids can really wear you out but all in all it was a lot of fun. The kids left telling us that they were going to bake pies and cookies for Thanksgiving and deliver them to us.

I am making potato, bacon and cheddar soup for James this evening. We have been having dinner on Thurs. evenings since Dani is in school until late. I'll send some home for Dani. Maybe we will have a chance to talk about our building project. I'm getting very excited at the prospect and hoping that it will make the winter less loathsome by anticipation of a spring build.

Anyway, if I get a better picture of the buck I'll post it. How I wish I had the camera on me when we came nearly face to face. He was beautiful.

Off to do some laundry. Talk soon.

Keeping busy

This is the material for the other baby quilt that's up next. It will be very simple. 5 in. squares with a couple of borders. Next to it is the new bag I got from Suzan "the reluctant quilter". That woman can really make a beautiful bag. I've had more people tell me how pretty it is. Her company is Hazelnut Deux and her bags are gorgeous and well made.

These days I am trying to be as busy as I can to avoid the thoughts that are clouding my head. Soon it will be a year that Roger has been gone. I am trying to fill the hours with good thoughts and there are many right now. We are planning a large addition to the house come spring. Getting our wish list together so we can talk with an architect who is going to help us with a design. We are, essentially, building another whole house on the property for James & Dani. This suits my BIL Bob and I very well since we adore them and it will be helpful to both of us since it is a large property to maintain and having help will be nice as we are not getting any younger or in any better shape. It's a lot of fun imagining the new house and it looks like we may just squeak by without having to get a variance since we may be able to make it fit into this large property without coming close to the neighbors. We have a good relationship with our neighbors-like to keep it that way. It looks like I will get a new and larger kitchen, possibly a small deck off my bedroom, and hardwood flooring. I also get the best thing of all. A house with family in it again. Oh! and Lucy-can't forget Miss Lucy!!. I must say it's very quiet and sort of lonely here. I can go the whole day without talking with anyone but myself. It's not good for me. Depression creeps up kind of fast and lingers. How funny and unusual for me to find at 63 that I need a life and people around me.

Last week I had a super week of friends with time. It seems that it was a good week for all of my friends to have time to do stuff. Yay! I went to dinner with Geri at Taormina, lunch with Dani's Mom, Cheryl, at the Greeks, Thursday night quilting with Terry and Pam and out shopping alone on Friday for some necessities from Macy's.

I still have my work at the Pantry and it is our very busy season. Seasonal workers are looking for help for their families for the winter and we have a large number of veterans who are needing help as well. The VA hospital is a few miles away and it breaks your heart to see what's happening to these people who are returning from service and having trouble dealing with memories of war and physical injuries. It makes all of us try doubly hard to get our donations and grocery gift cards in place so at least they can be assured of a meal when they are hungry.

I'm going to fire up the machine and get to work on the new baby quilt and then I don't want to hear about birthin' no babies for a while!! II have so much to catch up on sewing wise.

I'll keep you posted.

Golden

The days are really golden around here right now. We have a lot of color in some areas but, amazingly, there are some trees that are still only tinged with color and for the most part still green. A few rainy days will take care of that.

We went on a little visit to North Carolina to check up on the old folk. Aunt Mattie and Uncle Don are in their mid nineties and now in assisted living. Mattie is still very sharp but Don is failing a bit. I'll take 95 if it could be on those terms. Mattie got a kick out of my Kindle and she learned some games on cousin Susan's I-phone. That woman is pretty sharp. She enjoyed playing solitaire. We visited them several times and did a lot of lunches and dinners at some great places around Davidson/Mooresville. Davidson is a college town about 20 miles outside Charlotte -Mattie and Don live in the retirement village there. It's quite the place for that kind of thing. They had a cottage on the property for many years and then, due to illness they had to move to the assisted living facility. Anyway, being a college town, there are many really nice places to shop in and eat in. We picked a place called Toast and had a great brunch one day. The food was very good and we ate on the lovely patio outside. Very nice.

Our flights were uneventful which is all you can really ask for these days. I have been catching up with the laundry and a bit of housekeeping and now I can return to the @$!%*# baby quilt that never ends. One down and one more to go. Our niece is having another baby in December so another, hopefully much quicker, baby quilt is on the way.

Dani is nearly finished with this semester of school and her schedule for the next is mostly in the evening so I will not have Thursdays with Lucy. I will miss our crazy days together but probably get more accomplished since I am so easily distracted by the cuteness.

Well, off to make some chicken soup(it's very chilly here) and back to the machine to finish that quilt.

Hope to have something to show soon. Talk to you tomorrow.

Update to last post.

I received this note from my good friend Debra Spincic of Debra's Design Studio regarding the Basics Quilt gather that I wrote about yesterday.

Please add to your post today about the Quilt Drive that I will gladly machine quilt any tops that are sent my way. I know that alot of people would contribute to these kinds of causes more but the machine quilting holds them back. They can dig out some old UFOs and I can use those. I have plenty of fabric or sheets for backing, no problem.
If they will send me the top, binding enough to finish it and $5 for batting, etc. I will finish the tops into quilts and send them to the Basic Housing address. I'll get a box started and send a load at once. I have a few here I can save & send.

On another note, my 1000 Pyramids quilt I made for the Golden Retriever Rescue Fundraiser auctioned last night for $525. A man bought it for his mother for Christmas. Nice man, eh?

xoxo
Debra

A better friend you can't imagine. Debra does a lot of donation work. We met through the Quilts of Valor program and that's only one of the many good works that she has had a hand in. I sent her offer to Victoria, who I think may be away for the weekend so I'll probably hear from her later. I'll keep you posted or check with Victoria at Bumble Beans for information and an address for Debra. It's a generous offer from Debra who will quilt and send your donation to Basics for you.
I'll talk to you soon...

Thursdays with Lucy and Helping those in need

My friend Victoria, of Bumble Beans Blog has been working her fingers to the bone for a while now on a project that means a lot to her as well as the many families in NY who are in temporary housing through a group called Basics Inc.. Please take a moment to go to her Basics site by clicking on the blog above and, if you can, help with a donation of a quilt. All the info is on the link and on her site there are some very simple ideas for a fast and easy quilt of any size. They need all kinds and sizes. It's a project that began with a simple question from Victoria to the man in charge of this group. She asked if they could use some quilts and how many. He responded by asking if she had 700. So far I think she has gathered and and made around 300. Winter is coming and they need many more. Go see what she's up to. That woman can work faster than anyone I know.

And now, for some Lucy...



I know it's not Thursday but this post never made it past being saved and now it's Sunday morning.

As you know, if it's Thursday-it's all Lucy. We have a contest to see who can out smart the other and I'm sorry to say that Lucy has been winning lately. I have to scan the room really well to imagine how little furry paws and jaws will find various fun things to run and hide with and eventually tear to shreds. How can something so cute be so shreddy!! Those beautiful little white teeth are like razors. She loves to screw with your mind as well. It's the challenge of the game. She knows that I can't run that fast and her funny , short, little paws try hard to gain a pawhold on the wood floor to make a getaway. Very funny pup.

On another note, I will be away from the blog for a few days but I should be back to blogging again by the 12th. Nothing serious, just some work that needs doing. Hope you take a moment to look at Victoria's blog. It's a good cause and a great comfort for families who are trying to get a new start in life. Food, shelter, and comfort. Sounds simple but it isn't always that easy.

Back soon

I call shenenigans or Sunspots

I tried to post yesterday. Really I did. Stop laughing back there. There are gremlins afoot. It's either Blogger, our server, or some mystical thing that has to do with sunspots. I'm giving it another go.

About a week or ten days ago I got an e-mail from our cable company. Normally I don't complain much about cable since they really are pretty good and certainly very fast as they claim. (Lets discuss how crappy digital tv is someday though.You know, the constant freezing of the screen and the efforts to sync it back up that take just enough time to lose half a program) But I digress, they stated that there was work being done and we could experience problems with the server. They also said that in an effort try and not screw with us too much, work would be done mostly between the hours of midnight and 6 am. That works for me. I have a Kindle, the answer to all technology problems in my world so I'm prepared. Besides, if I'm on the Internet at those times you can be fairly certain that I'm having a serious problem since I am distantly related to Rip VanWinklezzzzzzzz.
Then I saw an article in, I think, the Times regarding the major solar flares that are due to cause us to run screaming from our electronic hardware in the next months. As a side note, you may remember that Roger worked in science as his job for 35 years. One of his favorite answers, as well as many of his colleagues in the community, to the question of why some piece of technology wouldn't work was...sunspots. Once when I couldn't get the TV to work and nothing went right he looked at me with a very serious face and said...sunspots. It became our personal mantra for everything that goes bump in the night, to why my cake fell apart or the car made a funny noise. I really miss that sense of humor of his so much.
I'm beginning to think that this is how the world will end. Sunspots will drive humanity insane and we will all perish in the onslaught from having to do without our electronic stuff.
For instance, I just found a photo of some shoes I bought from Land's End. Nice Suede Penny loafers. The photo somehow deleted itself or I would show you how cute and preppy my little loafers are. Hate to admit it but I'm the last, sad, aging preppy around. I don't like bling, or blouses that are covered in sequins and stuff and if you could see my closet(heaven forbid) you would find the worlds largest collection of chinos and linen shirts. I spent a good part of yesterday looking for some clothing to wear in NC next week. I came home with three things and one doesn't fit right. There are beautiful sweater sets and tweed sweaters in the stores but frankly, there would have to be a major change in NC weather for me to need a sweater in October. It's still in the 70s here for the rest of the week. So I guess I'll take my nice linen stuff and hope there is an iron in the room. Linen always looks like you just got out of bed midday but I like to start out crisp. Wish I could iron my face.
Just in case you couldn't imagine this post getting any more boring...I spent the morning interviewing families for the Adopt-a-Family Christmas program. Specific wants and needs for each family are our goal so lists must be gathered and sizes etc. so that the various churches in our community and ask people to help and know that they will have a guideline to help the givers.
So good people of Bloglandia, that's where my morning and some of the afternoon went. Now I have laundry and some clean-up to do and then...praise the heavens...I can maybe get to the machine and work on the crosses above. I'm still trying to get back to doing something with them after months. That is if I don't run into any more sunspots.

what I did on my summer vacation and then some.

For a slightly computer challenged person like me, blogging, it turns out is something you should really keep at. "From not doing you must re-learn all that you have un-learned"....Yoda.

That's not such a bad thing. Life is always an interesting and sometimes fascinating lesson. I believe that I have had enough lessons for a while. We are never to old to learn but frankly right now I'm caught up for a bit.

Life around here these past months has been a journey to find... me. I found that I am one of those women who focused on doing a good job as mother and wife and when both those things were taken away from my daily life I became the proverbial basket case. In our daily lives we sometimes say to ourselves as artists or workers in cloth, "when will it be my turn". That is not to diminish the experiences of motherhood and wifery. They are years I would not have changed or given up for any reason. Now and then the universe throws you a curve ball though and the choice becomes not your own but some universal crankypants attack. Everything you know to be good and right suddenly stops like one of those freaky roller coasters and you have mental whiplash. In the last couple of weeks I have begun to feel something familiar within returning. The desire to create and the burning desire to feel something that resembles normal again. I know that things will never be the same without Roger but I have come out of this phase of uselessly begging the universe to make it all right and give me back what I lost. Things will simply be different. How they are different is now my choice to make.

Perhaps dealing with getting some etching done on Roger's headstone was a trigger and perhaps taking o a new position of more responsibility at the Food Pantry have contributed to a somewhat new outlook.

Above, you will see two of the reasons I have for getting up each day. My wonderful, smart, Daughter-in-law Dani and, of course, the amazing Miss Lucy Goose. Dani is back in school studying for her CPA and has a very long day on Thurs. I get to watch Lucy until James gets off work and then we have dinner together. By Thursday night I am wiped out and happy. Lucy makes me laugh so much. She's the definition of wild thing but so much fun to play with. Besides, the exersize is good for me. I have done way too much eating for comfort these past months.

My hairdresser Diane is having a baby in December and the quilt above is for her baby. I have begun to straight line quilt with the walking foot. It's easy stuff but in order to keep it neat you really must pay close attention and go slowly. Hope to be finished soon.

To all of my friends who took the time to check up on me this time I was missing in action, thank you so much. I can officially call myself an American now and have a passport!! I was so excited when they finally approved my getting Roger's Social Sec and let me change my name officially that I stopped on the way home by Roger's grave and sat talking to him. His biggest fear since 9-11 was that the bureaucratic nightmare at government agencies would become a serious mess for me. It was a serious mess for a while but in the end the wheels turned slowly and finally proved what we knew all along. I've been a citizen since 1951 through my mother's naturalization. Whew!!! I think I have finally gotten all the paperwork assiciated with Roger's death done with and can relax and take a deep breath.

Well, I'm off to set up the machine and get this baby quilt done as well as spending some of the day doing paperwork for the Pantry-financial paperwork for a change.

I've loved catching up with all the beautiful work you all have been turning out. Also the donation work turned out by several good friends. Stop by Debora's Design Studio(link on left) and see all the great work she's doing with donation quilts. Bumble Beans sent me a postcard yesterday to show the quilt that was made with donation blocks that some of us sent her for her "Bloggers, Friends & Family Signatures" quilt. Victoria's blog is on the left as well under Bumble Beans. Mad Talents all around.

Back Monday.

Life in slow motion

I'm still waiting for the results of my x-rays on the knee so in the mean time I thought I would let you know I'm trying to make the best of it(even though I appear to be backwards on the surfboard)

Catching up with work for the Pantry since that only requires sitting and I'm watching some netflix. Reading a few things on the Kindle, or as I call it, the best invention to come along in my world EVER.

Bob left for Alaska this morning pre-dawn and is well on his way there by now. He will be back in a couple of weeks. It's pretty quiet around here for now.

I need to go to the Pantry to pick up some paperwork and I get to use the special parking places right outside the door which helps a lot. I don't like this feeling at all though. Moving slowly is not my thing & it requires a lot of patience(something we might all agree is lacking in my profile)

I keep thinking things like, "I'll just run out and do thus and such." Not so much!! One of my stops is to get a bag of thistle seed for my beloved Goldfinches. I'm out and they look angry...

I'll let you know what the Dr. says as soon as I can locate him. Back soon.