Actual quiltmaking…say what??

I’m sure that you are as tired of looking at dirt pics as I am of only having them to show so I finally got around to taking shots of the two things I have worked on this past 10 days or so.

I was so enthused with the Granny Square blocks that some people have shown on their blogs that I thought I would get into the game with my favorite “Breath of Avignon”. I cracked open a new jelly roll of it and made some Grannies.  I’m so enjoying this block and how easy it is as well as how complicated it looks that I’m going to do some more for a larger version. There were a few kinks and first time blunders but they came out looking pretty anyway and now that I have the hang of it there will be more. For me the trick was to make the outside light pieces a little larger so you can trim them up at the end.

The other little quilted piece is a gift for a friends birthday. I quilted it by machine with the walking foot and I think it came out nice. It’s very small-just a little table topper size.

Now for the construction pics. Today they took down the chimney on the old part of the house so that they can eventually take out the whole side of the old house and begin framing the new part. These guys are so fantastic it was such fun to watch them work. Nice guys too. Here’s a shot of the old chimney coming down. What a noise it made!

Back soon with more.

foundations

Heads up! The footings and foundation are nearly finished. They will pour the foundations later today and possibly begin framing in a week or so. Can’t get too excited though, there is soooo much to be done out there.  Retaining walls, new sewage plant under the circle in the driveway so that’s going to be torn up soon. There is soooooooooo much dirt and mud it’s not pretty. I will not cry, I will not cry…. I will thank my lucky stars that I didn’t put in new floors last year. Yep, that’s what I’ll do. Thanks to the universe for old cruddy floors.

I’m writing this just to keep a kind of journal and to let some of the friends see what’s up. As soon as I can locate my other cards for the camera I will take some pics of a few sewing things I’ve been up to. In the meantime, building photos are all I’ve got for you. Thanks for checking in.

Stick in the mud

   

Above is a shot of what used to be a small patio outside my kitchen/living room door. I didn’t bother to even try to care for anything growing out there since I knew it would most likely get covered with dirt and eventually torn down. It turns out that morning glories thrive on neglect. The new covered porch will be out there-running from James and Dani’s to my door. It’s going to be big and beautiful. Can’t wait.

Because of the logistics of getting trucks up this driveway from hell, the big entertainment has been watching some fabulous drivers coming up backwards no less. Whew! These guys can drive. Yesterday a small accident left part of a sewer pipe with issues and we had to get someone up last evening to pump the tank. Needed to be done anyway but it was raining like crazy and with all the mud out there it was even less fun than you can imagine. All is well now….fingers crossed.  The really big piles of dirt and sand next to the little porch are from the dig out of the new dry well which the village now requires to avoid run off reaching the street. Can’t see it myself but that’s what they want. Along with a list of a million other annoying rules

As you can see, our nice driveway is totaled and will have to be re-done but most likely not till next spring. Oh! the mud brings back memories of the old dirt driveway…not happy ones I might add. There will be no point in getting new floors in my house until that’s done. The sand and gravel and mud in winter and spring thaw is more than you can imagine. Haven’t been out of the house for a few days since the big machines and wet piles of mud are the new pathway out of here.  Wish I had bought a pair of wellies. Hope to get out later since food supplies are getting low and I have a huge sushi Jones. Once the well gets finished maybe there will be a path I can venture out on without sinking to my ankles. Wish me luck!!

Gory details for relatives & friends

 

Lucy is bored by it all. Really a pic from a while back but if she were here she would be going crazy. Noise and strangers outside….not happy about that…WOOOF!!

I am working on a new comforter for James. Ahem…someone has chewed holes into the places where the current quilt is tied. This one will have to be quilted-no ties for little sharp teeth. Picture to come.

Boom!

  Monday morning breakdown…

The area that is being dug out is where the new structure will be built. More later…

Building begins Monday

At long last the building begins. We signed contracts today and next week they begin by doing some prelim work.  The ugly cement wall in the photo is getting torn out and replaced with a great looking new wall moved back about 5 feet. It will give us more room to stage the workmen during the build, eventually make for more area to back up and empty groceries near the house and we’ve wanted to put a nice wall in there forever anyway. Two birds-make that three.

Sadly, in order to get the dumpster in the space and negotiate large equipment, we had to cut down the wild cherry tree. There will be a new one in my future. I’m hoping the chipmunks will eventually return to the new wall. Boy are they going to be pissed.

They came and took away the second dumpster yesterday and now we have to have the POD removed next Monday. Right now it contains most of the things Bob wants to keep and a large collection of my fabric as well as some of James things he still housed in the old basement. That’s my car in front of the POD. From next week on I will be parking in the street below us. There is very little space for all the heavy machines that will be coming up here to dig foundations and move a lot of dirt. One of the things they are doing right away is moving the electric, cable, and phone lines up to a higher position. Right now you can’t get anything bigger than a UPS truck up here and that barely makes it. All the land is back up in the hillsides and nearer the house on this property.

We were pleased to learn today that our architect and contractor were the designers of this years Hampton’s Show house. They brought July/Aug 2012 issue of “Traditional Home Magazine” with them to show us the photos. If you’re near a Library or Barnes & Noble you can take a peek. The Hampton’s Show House is a yearly event on the east end that people can go see for about a month. You pay a fee to tour the house where every room is decorated by a famous or up and coming decorator. The proceeds go to Southampton Hospital. Our contractor built the house that was designed by our architect. I’m so thrilled for them and for us that we got them!!

Anyway, the old part of the house is pretty much gutted inside and the new house will be built  by using that gutted part and attaching a whole new house for James and Dani…and of course Lucy!

I will be here for all the work as well as BIL Bob since he retires at the end of this week. I kept a lot of my fabric and my sewing machine so I have  something to do to take my mind off the chaos for the next couple of months. Aside from the bins that are stored in the POD there remains The Closet of Shame that I can cull from. The kids bought me a Nikon Coolpix  for my birthday a few weeks ago and as soon as I can figure out how to charge and use it I will have photos to show that will be much better…he he.

Wish us luck…here we go

More tripping

This was the view outside the condo we rented on the Oregon coast in Depot Bay. We saw 3 orca but I was not fast enough with my camera to catch them. The coast was just as beautiful as I imagined and every view seemed like a postcard. I got a crick in my neck from constantly looking up to see the giant trees. It did rain every day but it wasn’t enough to stop us(or anyone else) from just going on with our day. We drove to Newport and had lunch down on the docks in a lovely restaurant. It was very modern and the food was fresh off the boat. Did some exploring and some shopping on the way back to Depot Bay in time for cocktail hour. On the way to our rental we had made a stop at Tillamook Dairy for some cheese. My son had taken a trip out West with Uncle Bob years ago and still remembered the ice cream at Tillamook. We brought cheese curds, sharp cheddar and a few other things for cocktail hour. Our purchases from The Flying Dutchman Winery the day before  made a delicious time for everyone. What could be bad…wine, cheese, good company.

The people that owned the condo were very nice and verrrry fonnnd of glass. The whole time we were there I kept thinking that someone was coming into the room when it was just a reflection in all the glass everywhere. More than I wanted to see of me but that’s a small complaint. Everything else was lovely and spotless.

One of our days there we decided to go see the Seal Caves. It was a little rainy and the temps were about 55-60. As time progressed the wind picked up and the rain came down sideways. By the time we walked out of the caves to return to the entrance the wind had picked up to 60 mile an hour gusts. At one point I couldn’t move standing up. We had to walk bent at the waist and hold on to the railings for dear life. Cousin Susan started laughing and then we all started laughing and couldn’t stop. About half way up(did I mention it was uphill?) there is a ladies room and all four of us piled into it and just stood there in tears from laughing. My fingers were frozen since it had suddenly gotten colder. It was 42 degrees people!! 42 freaking degrees. I’m used to winter but the girls from Florida were feeling like they landed in the arctic. Anyway, we tried to calm ourselves down and the little room was heated so the Florida gang finally warmed up. When we opened the door to make our way, it turned out we only had a couple of feet to go to our destination…more laughter.

Here are the rocks outside from the balcony. We were sorry to leave this place. It was really beautiful. I will definitely go back. I was so sorry to miss seeing my good friends in Portland and Beaverton. The plane trip is long and fortunately went smoothly. BIL Bob got us first class tickets and they served us breakfast and then lunch on the next flight but it’s a long time to be in the air. We flew into Seattle and drove down to Oregon the first week. Then back up to Richland Wa.via the Columbia River Gorge(breathtaking) where my niece was getting married. Richland is part of Tri-cities and is a big fruit and wine growing area. James and Dani flew into Pasco, one of the Tri cities. It’s also very much like a desert. So we went from rainy 50s to very warm 75-80s temps. The wedding was so beautiful. It was in a vineyard in late afternoon and everything was well done and sweet. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I never got my camera out. Everyone else has pictures so I will eventually get some and show them.

Day after the wedding we headed for a week in Seattle. I can’t tell you how hard it was to pack for this trip. Three different temperature zones. Very challenging. Of course, I packed too much and my suitcase weighed a ton. Lesson learned.

That’s it for today. The contractor is coming in a few moments to show the project to a possible excavator guy. There is so much happening before they even get to the house building. We are on a slope and we have to have a stone wall dismantled and rebuilt 3 feet back in order to pass some stupid permit. Sadly, it’s the wall in which my chipmunks live and I’m sure they will go elsewhere for the duration. Kind of wish I could go somewhere too. So far all the guys I have met are very nice and seem to want to make these transitions as smooth as possible. These are the moments that I miss Roger the most. I need my engineer right about now. I am glad I paid attention to some important things while he was here.

More tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.

thea quilts

thea quilts  This blog is coming to you from Windows Live Writer. I spent too many hours trying to get the cursed blogger to work and this seems like a dream in comparison. Still finding my way around but infinitely better already.

The first week we were in Depot Bay in a lovely condo right on the water. I’ll get those photos in the next few days. We saw Orca and had a very funny incident at the Seal Caves where 60 mile per hour winds nearly knocked me into the Pacific(which it was not that day) and it was 42 degrees. I cursed my stupidity in taking out the sweatshirts I had planned to pack and instead packed more summery stuff. Freezing and sideways rain. More on that another day. I fell in love with Oregon though. Rain or no rain it was fabulous and breathtaking. Here’s a shot of the incredible Colombia River Gorge.

Our niece Michelle married her fiancé Cody in Richland southeast of Seattle. The wedding was amazingly beautiful. The area is a big agricultural region for wines and fruit. Michelle and Cody were married in a gorgeous vineyard-late afternoon. It was so much fun. Great DJ, great music, great drinks-hold on to your hats…I danced. Just enough to embarrass the kids. Lots of laughs.

We celebrated Dotties 70th by having dinner at the restaurant on top of the Space Needle. It was momentarily challenging since the movement of the place took a tiny bit of getting used to. One whiskey sour later I was fine. Dinner was very posh and very delicious.

Among the many things we managed to squeeze into our week was the Dale Chihuly glass installation below the Space Needle. It was so beautiful we went back late in the day hoping to see things lit up. It was still a little to early but some of the pieces were beginning to twinkle. Wow it was everything I imagined his work to be and then some.

Of course we had to go to Pike Place Market and sample our way through there. We went to International Town next day and went to Uwagimaya, a Japanese store. Everything Japanese and a market within the market. Great fun.

I’ll be back with more pics and stories soon. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed seeing Oregon and Washington. Love!! The endless plane ride….not so much.

Sitting here staring at the space needle from my hotel room. Just arrived from pasco/richland area. Typing this on my kindle while waiting for the rest of the family to get ready for dinner. Tomorrow 70th birthday cousin dottie. Dinner in space needle. spent 4days on the Oregon coast in new port/depot bay in a gorgeous condo on the beach. I would have told you gerrie or Terry but it was at the time you were with the stash group and I had 5 other people with me and one car. Now that I know the way I'll be back. Here for 4 more days. More news when I get back.. I really needed this! Ps...the building permits came through...whew. we begin in June.

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.