Fun Shopping Treasures!

Ooohhhh....it's been a while since I've brought any new fabric into my studio and added it to my INVENTORY!!  I do not call it a stash anymore.  Stash has an interesting history, don't you think????

I'd rather think of it as my inventory that I go through when in my creative mode.  The Stonehenge collection is the center is a line of fabric that somehow I have missed in the past.  I started in my fabric collection with those pretty fat quarter stacks that retailers would place around the store.  Now it is strips like these or jelly roll packs....marketing!

I also picked up a few new patterns, books and individual at a nice shop in Mount Vernon.  These were all on clearance....except for the Halloween embroidery.  Carter, my 3 year old grandson is quite enamored with Halloween, as is his Mom, so I thought this might make a nice quilt/wall hanging to make for them for NEXT year, since it isn't going to be done THIS Halloween.  I am finishing a black stitch witch small piece though.  Photo of that when all done.


After the retreat I attended down south a few weeks ago, I got bitten by the Superior Thread bug!  Cruised their website and put in an order.  Very excited to use the fusible thread this weekend at another retreat, with a friend Judy, who is the queen of quilt bling!  So I'll be embellishing and doing some applique while there

The packets are for silk embroidery. 

I bought myself a new present a few weeks ago.  A floor model Ott light with an attached magnifying glass and clip to hold a pattern.  Figured it would really help, especially in the evenings of the fall and winter, to work on those handwork projects. 

It was on sale, but still pretty spendy.  I brought it home, put it together.  Turned it on, and everything worked just great.  Then I went off on a couple of retreats, and get a ways.  A few nights ago, I gathered my current embroidery project and a cuppa tea and sat to stitch.  Reached up to turn on the lamp and nothing.....checked the bulb, tried another outlet.....still nothing.  Ugh....No, I don't have the receipt or the box, because when I put it together, it worked. 

So I called Ottlite and a nice woman asked me a series of questions, and determined that it is indeed under warranty and they would be sending me a new lamp.  However, I had to perform a bit of surgery.

Can you see????  I had to CUT THE CORD, to make sure this lamp would never work.  And email the photo to her to prove it.  I guess then you dispose of the lamp....but I'm thinking I'll keep the bulb, just in case it is still good. and I wonder if the magnifying glass could be attached to something else?  Or even just keep it on the stand to use elsewhere. 

I'm thrilled to not have to return the lamp to the store, and excited they are sending me a new lamp, though I have to pay $9.75 for the warranty....worth it, don't you think?

Rhubarb Liquor ready to rest

My gosh this is a gorgeous color!  Months ago, I saw a blog showing someone making rhubarb liquor.  I believe I blogged about it at the time, and posted a photo showing the chopped fresh rhubarb bathing happily in the Everclear grain alcohol.  The directions were to put it in the pantry and leave it alone for 2 - 4 weeks.  Don't you know, I sort of forgot about them.  When I came upon them in August I pulled them from the pantry and put them on the counter to remind myself to go to the second step.
And there they sat for a week or more, then they got moved into another cupboard.  At least now it was some where that I would see it more often so surely I would get it done, right?  NOT!  Finally today months after I started, I did the next step.  I was so surprised and delighted when as it was straining, this beautiful color appeared.  The directions said to taste it after adding the sugar syrup and adjust for sweetness, but to beware it would have a "harsh" flavor.  Well, maybe marinating for 3 months helps because it already tastes wonderful!!
But I did get it poured into these two jars.  One is four cups, the other is eight.  So I have 12 cups of this moonshine!  I mean rhubarb liquor.....
Maybe is some people are lucky they might get a nice little container of a bit for Christmas.
Since it is supposed to sit now again for at least a month, I'm planning to bring it out for Thanksgiving and give it a toast. 
Anyone still with me out here??  I'm feeling a blast of posts coming out of here in the next few days.

FINALLY!!  I made this top several Halloween's ago....I pulled it out each fall, still needing to be quilted and finished and then ended up folding it back up to be finished some other time, since quilting is NOT my favorite thing to do, and it was too small to send to my friend with the longarm. 
 Lucky me, got to attend two retreats, back to back last week and this project went with me.  And got to be finished!  Actually I had some fun doing some decorative stitching on it, and will probably do more, over time. 
This Halloween, it is up on the wall and being enjoyed! 

First Day of School. 8/30/2011

First Day of School. 

Turn around you guys!!! 

The bus arrives, right on time

And off they go.....

I have been lucky to be able to be there on the first day of school each year, since Jillian started in kindergarten.  This is a big year because Ethan is now in school - 1st Grade - so he goes every day, for the full day.  Jillian is in the 4th Grade now.  

It seems like not very long ago when Krista pulled into the driveway that July afternoon, and 20 month old Jillian toddled up the driveway and said "Hi Geema!"  That was when Jeff, Krista and Jillian moved up to Lynden, from Tacoma where I could help them with childcare.  A year and a half later Ethan was born, right here in my home.  And after having one or both of them with me for several days a week, now they are off to school.  

What am I going to do........

Freshening Up

This is one of my fall quilts.  Actually this is one that I have used to teach a beginning quilting class.  It was good because it taught the basics of measuring and cutting accurately and then making Nine Patch blocks and bi-color blocks.  Once people can master those, they have a good foundation, IMHO.
Anyway, freshening up!  You may notice my blog looks a bit different.  I'm not sure how I feel about the new way to work through the layout, but I'll learn more as I go. 
One of the new features that I can access has to do with traffic.  And I'm wondering who in the heck is viewing my blog from Germany and North Korea....isn't that weird?

The kids are now in school, so my life will be very different.  I actually signed up for a few shifts at work, and have been called off for the first two.  I'm planning to get back into a nice gym, workout routine, but because of my surgery next week, I won't be able to do any exercise for two weeks following that, so it will be a few weeks before that happens.

Fear not, there are many things for me to DO!  In fact, I'm heading into my sewing room now to finish up the quilt I'm working on for my small group's Christmas quilt.  I'll be back here soon, and finally do my Back to School post.

Nesting

 Here to the right is the result of my Darling Husband unloading the dishwasher and putting the plastic ware away.   I can hear you now, how lucky I am that he even unloads the dishwasher!
We have had a long standing arrangement, that I do the cooking and he does the clean up.  It works for us.  But I don't think men are ever taught the home ec class theory of nesting.
So the second photo is the same drawer with the same exact stuff in it, nested. 

I don't know why this is such a complicated task....

Too much Fear

Yesterday my book club met. The book this month was To Kill A Mockingbird. Unfortunately I didn't read the book, but not for lack of trying. Did you know that this is one of those books that you can't download or order from Amazon, even in actual book form? Now, don't start telling me about the library - I KNOW!!!
If you know me at all.......
Anyway, I did order the book from Barnes & Noble 3 weeks ahead of time, and it didn't arrive until the day OF the meeting, and my mail comes late in the day. I will read it. I actually only saw the movie about a year ago for the first time. It was a lively discussion, which lead to people chatting about home break in's, robberies and onto security issues in general. Then talk of how scary it is to be online. How it is very dangerous to post even photos online, because people can find out exactly where the photo was taken!!
Funny how all these same people are perfectly fine carrying and using their cell phones everywhere with them. Since that is probably a much easier way for someone to find you.
One of the well meaning members forwarded me a video that a news team somewhere had about the photos and finding you stuff. I'm thinking she sent it because I spouted off that if someone wants to find me that badly, they are going to find me. I sleep with my window open. How foolish they say!!! Someone could be walking by and see an open window and take that to be an invitation to come in and do me some harm. I said "whatever"....if they want IN my house they are going to find a way in.
So after watching the video, I sent the following message to this person, explaining why I don't worry about such things anymore. And after reading it, I thought it would be a good thing for my poor lonely, unattended blog....so here it is.



I lived with fear for many, many, many years. The earliest I can remember (other than being forgotten at VBS!) was when I was around 12. I started having trouble sleeping. Kept hearing noises in the night. My poor brother who slept in the room downstairs next to me, was forced awake every so often so he could check the basement and make sure we were secure. I used to get up in the night and check all the doors and windows.

My Mom started restricting me from watching any kind of scary television. At the time it was the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits - LOL!

I used to feel like people were watching me or following me. There was never any reason I have been able to discover. I've never lived in a house that has been broken into. Never been around anyone who suffered from a violent crime. My family members have all lived normal lives and normal deaths. Even after I married, if my husband was not home at night for some reason, I could not sleep. I had to stay awake and listen for danger.

Once I birthed my children, my worries just multiplied a thousand times with each of them. Afraid of everything from SIDS to kidnapping. All three boys have had a scary moment. Kyle nearly choked to death on a gumball at age 5. Thank goodness the neighbor who was a nurse (I wasn't at the time) was home and knew the Heimlich maneuver. Not so good, that she was the one who had given him the gumball.....Jeff at age 5 was playing in the front yard when the garbage truck came up the road. He turned the huge thing around in our driveway, and Jeff, thinking he was then going to drive back the way he came, ran behind the truck at which point the guy started to back up.....I happened to be watching from a bedroom window and screamed at him in time for him to run. Todd was about 4, when he opened the car door in the back seat, after he had gotten himself out of the seat belt, and I was going 60 mph on the freeway.

It was pretty scary to be diagnosed and treated for breast cancer at age 32 with three boys under age 6 at home.

So, about 10 years ago, I somehow came to a point of acceptance of life. And I refused to live with such constant fear all the time. Then came my first grandchild!!! I will admit my fears returned but to a much smaller degree. Now though, I watch my oldest son, with his two sons, living in fear, just as I did. I'm trying to help him through it.

I know there is a difference between being afraid and being aware. Between being foolish, and being smart. Between being careless and being careful.

I can only do what I can do. I can't control the actions, thoughts, intentions of another. And I have chosen to live each day being aware, smart, careful and not afraid.

Thankful Thursdays

1. That I have perfect and wonderful grandchildren in my life. Happy, Happy First Birthday to sweet Henry Jefferson Templeton. This is Kyle's youngest. He has such a wonderful Templeton sparkle in his eyes.
Not quite walking yet, but will be any day now.
His birthday party was on a beautiful sunny day when everyone got to enjoy a backyard party.

It's very fun to watch his big brother Carter (who will be celebrating his Third Birthday in September) play with his cousins and friends.







It is very sad for me that I am not able to have more time with these two. A two hour drive may as well be a ten hour drive, in reality.

We got to play together on another day this week and it was great.

2. Two new books suggested to me by Barb, my hairdresser. Had my kindle with me at my appointment (for that under the dryer while color is processing, HIDE THAT GREY!) so I was able to read a sample of each of them, and did indeed order them both up, right on the spot!!
The first is Still Alice, and the second is The Glass Castle.

3. A surprise meeting with an old friend, her daughter who had the child I was present at the birth for and her newest addition. Pure happenstance. One of those things that makes you shake you head and wonder. If I had left the salon a minute earlier or later, I would not have seen them, and gotten reconnected.

4. Finding a couple of new Low Carb Bookbooks, by my favorite LC author - Dana Carpender.
Even while being gone have FUN! with my sister for a few days, I was able to maintain my low carb eating. I did miss my bike riding and will back to that tonight, if I get called off of work, or tomorrow if I don't.

5. My little used in ground sprinkler system!! Nice to be able to hit a button and get the lawn a nice drink of water. Mostly nice that it NEEDS it, finally......

The Kitchen Window Sill

It's often said the heart of the home is in the kitchen. And I think the windowsill is a major part OF the kitchen. For many it is a refrigerator, with the surface area covered with photos, notes, coupons, magnets. My Aunt Mary always had the most covered fridge ever. It was one of those treats when we would visit that I would see what she had added.
When I birthed my first child, I arrived with excitement and anticipation on that first visit to her home and sure enough, the photo I had sent her was proudly displayed.

Her kitchen was very special. It was NEVER tidy, but never seemed messy. Just very busy. Here is my very favorite photo of my Aunt Mary and Uncle Dan. On the back of the April Ann, my Grandfathers boat.

I switched to the stainless appliances when I upgraded my kitchen, so magnets don't work. It really changed the whole flavor in the kitchen. One I hadn't anticipated.
Anyway, back to the windowsill. It was a last minute decision to change the wood to granite when I had the countertops done, and one I have never regretted.
So what is on there? On the right is some fresh mint, pulled from my garden, roots and all, that I pick from to add to salads and iced teas. Kind of silly, since I could walk out to the garden and grab it there, but I keep telling myself that I'm going out there to pull most of the invading bugger OUT of my garden...just haven't done it yet.
I have a small candle with a cute cover on it. Then the pottery piece that collects my quarters that I find in my pockets or purse.
Center stage is my living basil. From Trader Joes. The first time I bought one of these it lasted me months! Sometimes I just put my face right smack into it, inhale and smile. Pick a few leaves and cut them up to throw on ANYTHING! Lately, (in the lcl - low carb life) adding some to fresh cut tomatoes and a teeny sprinkle of white balsamic vinegar is the BEST thing EVER!!
Then I have another little pottery set that nickles, dimes and pennies go into.
And finally I have my precious begonia.

I bought this over a year ago in full bloom. Once it was done, I just kept it on the windowsill, pinched it once in a while and watered and what a GREAT surprise when I spotted some buds on there!

Even though purple is my favorite color, I have to say this apricot is my favorite color of flower.





Isn't that just the most glorious flower?

Oh dear, that bird feeder hanging outside the window is empty once again.
I best go fill it up before they start tapping on the window at me.....

Ethan helps in the kitchen!

I still giggle looking at this photo. I should have made him put a shirt back on! The two jars you see are some sugar free ketchup that we made together today.
For my low carb lifestyle as well as his parents we made this up today. It was easy and fun. He added all the ingredients to the blender and got to use the measuring cups and spoons. When he was rinsing out the tomato paste cans before taking them to the recycle bin, his shirt got wet.

Lynn has been asking me why I save these kinds of jars and lids, and now I can show him! I find myself attracted to jars, and bowls...not sure why. Could be worse, it could be jewelry or shoes!!

Had my annual eval today. And signed up for a couple of 4 hour shifts next week, while the kids are at daycamp. Figured I should keep my working options open a bit longer. Both kids will be in school full time starting late August, and I don't know what I might find to do! So maybe working a bit more is in the cards.

Low carb day 3 is all good. I am trying a few different recipes this time around, and I made baked eggs with cream and cheese today and they were fantastic!! I'm having a "thing" with Gruyere cheese. I actually first discovered this tempting tasty treat when I was low carbing in the past. It wasn't as easily available at the time, but lucky me, Costco has it most the time.

My bike ride tonight was further than yesterdays. That will be my goal, to go at least a bit further each day I am able to ride. I say able since I am going to be away from my bike for a day or two. Anyway, when I came back today my legs were so wobbly! A good thing! I also used my headset today, with some good music, not too loud so I can still hear the occasional car that may come along.

Off to bed.