Its the middle of the week already and what in the heck happened to October. I cannot believe where the time is going. its almost like everytime I turn around another month is gone. I think I must be feeling my age.
I turned 64 last month and thought I would retire at the end of this year but may wind up just cutting my hours . Not sure I am ready to be home with hubby 24 hours a day. If we went some place and did things it might be different but he doesn't seem to have any interest in anything other then playing games on his tablet and sitting out on the porch with the dogs. I guess its a good thing we traveled some when I was younger because he sure doesn't want too now.
I ordered some of the ribbon yarn the other day and have manage to get one of them knitted. these are soooooo much fun! the yarn is a little fiddly and takes some care as you cannot wind it like you would any other yarn but the results are sooooo worth while.

I have some other colors that I am itching to try next. hubby acutally surprised me and asked me to make him a blue scarf. I have never seen him wear a scarf and he never wears sweaters (not that I have attempted them yet) but it was a nice surprise. I will get busy tomorrow as I think I just might have some blue yarn in my stash.

O.k. there is not much else going on around here so I think I will close for now. until next time go out and create something.

sunday" I know its been a long time since I have posted. I really do try and do better but it seems like life just gets in the way. hopefully once I retire I will have more time.
Today was a busy day , we went to church, did some shopping and finally got back home. I actually went to ollies because hubby wanted some new outside rugs. I fully intended notttttt to buy any books as I don't really have the room for them. but I wound up buying two sock knitting books not even sure if I will ever bother to knit socks but it has been on my mind lately seeing them made up on all of my knitting blogs so I thought why not. if I don't decide too use them you will get them kaylee when I come to Spokane.  I also bought some of the ribbon yarns at michaels and am looking forward to making some of them.Have you seen this mug" isen't it just awfull! someone posted it on my knitting site and I think it has got to be the ugliest thing I have ever seen yuckkkkk.
O.k. now that I have made your day with something you never ever thought you would see" I am going to go put my feet up and relax until next time. take care

Hi its me again. I know I am sooooooo bad about writing but it seems like this year I have been much more tirid then usual. this is my last year and I am sooooo looking forward to retirement. but in the meantime after work" it seems like I just don';t have the energy to get a lot done. I finished my scarf for cancer and have been doing several dishcloths. have not done any more on the shawl but hopefully will get back too it soon. I may have to put something simple on my needles that I don't have to concentrate too much on. Went to my optometrist yesterday and after many many tests he said that my glocoma is doing very well. much better then he expected so what ever I am doing I guess I need to keep it up. Last nite we got on Skype with some family members that can be such fun! Its just like having them in your own living room.
O.k. there is really not too much else going on. all I seem to do lately is work , bake and work some more. until next time (hopefully with some projects to show you). take care

Well its sunday and one of my knitting group friends asked me to post a picture of the scarf I was working on and would you believe I already forgot about it" luckily she reminded me of it a few minutes ago so I snapped a quick picture. the pink scarf will be donated to a cancer group and the shawl is the first I have ever done so this is exciting too me.

Have not done a lot more today as we went to church and from there it was grocery shopping ect. Just checked facebook and it looks like one of my granddaughters has caught the big one! you goooooo girl! This is our little wonder girl! I think shes going to be a mechanic like her daddy. she has a toolbox to make any grown man Envieous! O.k. gotta go for now take care until next time.

 

Here it is Thursday again. not sure where the time goes but it sure does. Work has been something else this past couple of weeks. It seems we are always working one or two people short which makes a difficult job twice as hard. I was talking to one of the girls tonite and we are both looking forward to retiring this year. Its been a long haul for me and I am more then ready.
Have been working on a pink scarf to donate to a cancer group and finally finished my red one. I just need to get the camera out and take some pictures. I have several things on my bucket list that I really want to do" one of which is to make a circular needle holder. I saw one made up on a needle site and it would be so simple to make. it is essentially about 8"s wide and 25"s long. all you do is to take some cotton or canvas would work equally as well " fold it over a hanger and stitch spaces crosswise every couple of inches to hold the circular needles. when I manage to get one made I will post it so that you can see what I am talking about.
My daughter just called to tell me they bought a motor home. It sleeps six so you know its only going to get about eight miles or less to the gallon of gas but she is excited and I think they will have fun with it. things have changed so much from what they used to be when we were out running around in ours. you used to be able to park in state parks for almost nothing and now they have all kinds of charges.
I send my grandkids money for their birthday each year because its not really practical to buy things and mail them. for one thing I usually wind up paying as much in postage as I did on the gift. and then you have to worry about it getting there. so its just easier to send them money and let them get what they want too. My granddaughter bought a doll she wanted so she is a happy camper. am sitting here waiting for a picture of it in my email. Well its almost 8p.m. so I am going to close for now. will try and get some pictures taken this weekend and post again. sorry I am so bad about doing it on a regular basis. I try but I am that way with a diary or journal too that's why I never use them. I am great for a day or two and then it seems like it is a week before I remember to post again. take care until next time.

Look what I had waiting for me when I got home today! thanks sunny everything is gorgous! For any of you who have not yet gotten involved in swaps you really should give it a try! I have to run because it is thundering and storming here. take care until next time.

Its Saturday and my laundry is finished. I am thinking that although I am still very sore in places that I might actually survive this fall. I have to tell you that it was one longggggg week at work though. I work with a great bunch of girls. they were all pretty good about making sure that I did not lift anything too heavy. I haven't felt a lot like getting involved in anything right now but am drooling over the lazy girl pattern for the summer tote. it is just large enough that I could make it up to take on the plane with me the next time I go to Spokane. We are supposed to have a new joanns fabrics opening here with in the next month or so" I am debating on whether or not I want to wait or run over to wally world which now carries fabric yessssssssss! when they built it a couple of years ago they didn't put fabric in it as that was when they started removing fabric from most of the wallmart stores. women were flooding the stores with phone calls telling them not to discontinue it. well apparently they finally figured out just how much revenue us women bring in. its sooooooo nice to have a couple of different options available so close by. I used to have to drive to Greenville n.c. to get to the nearest joanns.
I have also been surfing the net which is common practice around here and found the cutest little blog. Its called American pie designs so if you get a chance type that into your search engine and check her out. especially the article she wrote on decopauge. I laughed so hard! It sounds like something my husband would say and do". Well that's about all that is going on today. still waiting for my friendship swap package. went down to the mail today but it wasen't there yet. now that it is the memeorial day weekend I imagine it will be Tuesday or wednsday before it arrives. It sounds like everyone is getting theirs finished and off in the mail before the final date so that's a good thing. o.k you all take care until next time.

Good news! just read my swap partner sunnys blog and she has her package and it is all opened up! she sounds like she likes it. I am sooooo glad. these swaps are so much fun and you always hope that your partner will enjoy what you got them. her addy is http://sunny-quiltingdreams.blogspot.com/  if you would like to see what I got her.
Today was a tough day back to work but I made it so tomorrow should be easier. Love feeding the little ones they just make my day! We have a little set of blonde twins that come through and one of them is just always smiles from one ear to the other.I don't believe I have ever seen her when she isen't smiling. today I was teasing her and she said so seriously that she did not sleep well last nite. she is only seven and I said well how come and she said my eyes just went poof! wide open and wouldn't shut! I guess you had to be there" but take my word for it she is adorable.
I have been trying out a scarf/shaw pattern that Vicky howel has on line and for some odd reason I cannot come up with even stitches on each side of the marker. I have left a comment on her blog so hopefully she will get back to me to let me know if I am doing something wrong or if it is a mistake in the pattern. Its a very simple pattern and I would like to do it. sometimes you need a simple one among the more complex ones. O.k. time for me to hit the showers. you all take care until next time.

trying to recover from work accident yesterday but am fuming mad so it is difficult! I was walking across the floor with a pan of chick fillets in my arms when one of the coworkers had left the grates up ontop of the flood when she was cleaning out the pit and didn't put them back down flush with the floor so naturally I tripped on them and hit the floor hard! those cement  floors have noooo give. anyway everyone came running and I checked to make sure nothing was broken and got up and went back to work. the boss wanted me to go get checked out but I thought if I moved around awhile I would be fine. well by the end of the day my shoulder was killing me so I agreed to go get checked out. for any of you that work for the state of north Carolina at least the school district you know that if you are injured on the job you have to get a drug test automatically every time! now this means you have to pee in a cup! yup no other way to say this folks: welllllllll I am not one to pee on command. sorry that is just not meeeeee. now if they asked my hubby he could fill up a small lake on command but they were not asking him they were asking meeeeee. it took me four hours , seven sixteen ounce glasses of water and a coke to get a sample. they even offered to catherize me can you imagine????? there has to be something wrong with a system that drug tests a state employee every time she has an accident and yet provides state assistance to welfare recipients several of whom I know who are druggies and using state money to keep their habit going. needless to say I was fuming by the time I left there. I told hubby next time if there is a next time" I refuse to go! if I die then he better post it in the paper why I did not go to the doctor! o.k. back to work take care until next time.

Its Saturday and I am actually getting a few things done. I finished my laundry yesterday instead of doing it today like I normally do. and instead I colored my hair. (long over due) I have been extremely lucky all these years and made it to 63 before my hair really started turning grey and then it was alllllllll at once! not nice" Wouldn't it be nice if we could all get pretty white hair or that awesome silver hair? noooooo not meeeeee I get the ugly greyyyyyyy hair. Well its strawberry blond now so I feel much better when I look in the mirror. It always amazes me what hair color does to change the way your eyes look.
Still no post on from my swap partner. maybe later on this weekend. looking forward to hearing whether or not she liked it. I have been laughing to myself as I don't understand anyone waiting to rip into a package. I am soooooooooo bad at that! even my kids know that if they want me to wait they better not send it early. I am like a little kid at Christmas.
Yestarday I managed to get a dresdon block put together. and I am in the process of appliqueing it down.

Have been playing with the lighting on my cameral. this one was taken outside and the next one was taken inside.

By the way have you ever tried to photograph humming birds? It reallyyyyyyy takes patience to wait until those little buggers stand still!

Its quiet here to nite as hubby had to go in for a sleep aptnia test so that leave me and the dogs alone.
Its been a nice day off. we had our teachers luncheon at the church this afternoon and my preacher and my boss got into a joking mood about teasing me. Lordyyyyyyyyy I am going to have to put up with this all tear long. my boss informed me today that the test I agreed to help her take last semester is going to be one that if we do not pass it we will have to take it again and again. funnnnnnnnnnnnn! Now I know why no one volunteered and I was the only one would would agree to go with her. she said the test manual is about three inches thick. we take the test in November. not looking forward to this one!.
Haven't heard from my swap partner so don't know if she received my package today or not. for some reason my email and addys are not loading up right today so I can't get the folder that I put all the swap info inside of. hopefully she has gotten it and liked it . Not sure what the time differenence is for her and I. Well elementary is on so I think I will watch the rest of it before I go to bed. take care until next time.

Its Tuesday and I feel like you know what? Have had a bad sore throat and cough for a week now and it is really getting too me. we managed to get all of the food put away for the cafeteria and going in and out of the freezer all morning probably didn't help any. I got home and landed in my chair and didn't move. Hubby was sweet enough to run into the store and pick up some more throat lozzengers and some cough drops along with some juice bars" did I say he was sweet!
After work I did manage to get my swap partners package in the mail. hear that sunny????? you should have it no later then Thursday so let me know if it arrives safe and sound. O.k normally I would try and have some pics to post but in all honesty I just don't feel up to it so until next time.

It was back to work today" and it seemed to take forever for the time to go by. it was so funny because all of us were looking at the clock. I think when you have been off for most of the summer it is difficult to get back into the routine. tomorrow we will go back as there will be a semi full of food that we will need to put up . then it back on the 26th for the school year.
It poured down rain today but I did manage to get to the post office on the way home from work and got a priority box so that I can mail off my swap partners gifts. I hope she will be happy with what she gets from me.
I have also been playing around with some grandmothers flower garden blocks which are fussy cut. I loveeeeeeee these! Its hard to find material for them because it has to be just the right space apart in order to leave enough material to fold over the hexagon.

I found some fabric that was obviously for a child but I think they are soooooo gosh darn cute! I am thinking it might be a cute baby blanket . I am not crazy about the idea of putting a grandmothers flower garden quilt together the original way but I think each flower would be cute appliqued to a backround block. I also got a new yellow mat which I had needed for some time. the old blue one was still good but it had some glue stains on it that I couldn't remove and it just looked nasty. this one is light and airy and I think it is much easier to see what I am doing with it.

Not much more going on around here at the moment. I am seriously thinking about joining weight watchers. not thrilled about what they charge but if it works that is what counts.

Well its getting to be time for dinner. so I had better stop for now. take care".

Just spent about 45 minutes on pioneer womans blog and it wasen't for her recipes although they are pretty darn good! it was for her photography" she takes amazing shots! If you want to take your photography skills a step further check out her information it will be worth the time. I know that I learned a lot. I would love to take a day and just go out and shoot pictures. nestled up next to the ocean would be the perfect  backdrop. hmmmmm maybe one of these weekends I will have to convince doug to go" if not then maybe a girlfriend.

Well I mailed off my daughters birthday card along with some material for the little ones to make skirts or dresses out of. and I have my swap partners things all ready to mail except for that darn wrapping paper. will check tomorrow when we are in town and see if I can find some. if I am lucky and all goes well I should get it out next week. I also have to start back to work Monday. that means getting up at five a.m. again. would you believe I am still at Spokane time. I can't seem to go to bed before midnite or later. that is all going to have to stop soon. I bough the cutest patten at joanns for making a dress quilt. the dress is hanging on a dressform and they are going to be soooooo cute! I started a couple of them last nite the dresses that is" not the backround squares. will have to cut some out today if I get the time and post soon. take care until next time.

An old friend of mine posted a picture of Logan canyon and it brought back so many memories that I just had to post it here. Have never seen colors like this any place else I have lived.

Have been busy this morning sewing for my friendship partner. just a little something that I hope she will like. I am just about to the point where I need to start boxing things up. one or two more things I need to pick up and that should do it. this has been fun! trying to figure out whether or not I want to actually wrap each thing as they are all different shapes and believeeeeee me I am definitely not the worlds best wrapper (my kids can testify to that) Hubby used to wrap their gifts. I may just go ahead and put them all in the box and send a sheet of paper with it identifying all the objects to the letters. will give it a little more thought before I make any final decisions.
We have to go back to Greenville tomorrow to see hubbies sleep aptnia specialist . while he is there getting his machine checked out" I am going to have him drop me off at joanns. That sounds much b etter to me then sitting in a waiting room. Have been playing around with a few different blocks also . started some snowball blocks which I first did with beige corners and decided they would pop better with white so redid some others. then I got interested in some applique coffee cups. a piece of advice if you want to complete anything you are working on stay off the net ! I can be sooooooo easily distracted. take care until next time.

Tuesday" we had to run into Greenville this afternoon for hubbies heart check up and they want him to go back on Friday to have his sleep aptnia machine checked. some days are like that" you spend more time sitting in the car and doctors offices then anything else. I did manage to get a few more rows done on my scarf so that was a good thing and on the way back we pulled into sams where I ran in and grabbed a case of mushrooms. I finally got a chance to use my rice cooker and made some rice pilof yummmmmmmmmmmm it was a success and I think it will be used more often then cooking it on the stove. It was oh so simple and very good.
There is a video of a newscast going on around facebook and if you haven't seen it be sure and play it if you do. The new smart phones have tracking devices that when you post a picture of your sweet grandchild on facebook using your smart phone they can find out where you live , where the picture was taken, where your child goes to school and what park she frequents. it is sooooooooo gosh dang scarry. *I have to tell you that I would hate being a parent in this day in age" there are so many new things and great technical advantages but with them come greater risks. Just really be ware of what you are doing . O.k. I am out for tonite. my boss called me to tell me that we have to be back to work Monday to clean and I was laughing so hard I could barely speak to her. when I was in Spokane my sil has all these cool ring tones and he had one for your boss" welllllllllll I naturally downloaded it and whenever she calls it plays. Now I will have to play it for her because I could not explain what I was laughing so hard about. I do not lie welllllllllll lols take care until next time .

Frustrated Monday!
As many of you know I have been contemplating buying a rice cooker. well I finally decided to simply pick up a cheap one and see if we use it very often. if not and it turns out to be just another thing to sit around taking up space then I can donate it to the grandson and not be out much. wellllllll the darn thing does not have any kind of recipe book in it at all" the first thing I wanted to make in it was rice with chicken stock instead of water but do you think I can find out what measurments to use? I have been on the net for the past 45 minutes looking for rice recipes using a rice cooker everytime I find a place that matches my inquiry it turns out to be cooking rice on the top of the stove.Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I guess I am just going to have to go out and buy a rice cookbook to find out what I want to know. Usually the internet is such a helpful place but for some odd reason not so with rice cooker recipes.
Well the time is moving along much too quickly " I will be headed back to work before I know it. not sure I am looking forward too it. Have gotten much too used to sleeping in and doing what I want too all day long. that being said" we do have a joanns coming into Goldsboro and it should be ready next month so working would help pay for all the money I knowwwwwwwww that I will spend there! some things you just have to do". take care until next time.

Its Saturday yippeeeeeee"""" I got my knitting bowl and took a quick picture of it at the ceramic shop"

I love it! and apparently a lot of others did too. she said everyone is buying the yarn bowl after seeing mine made up and wants to do one too including her so I did a good thing! lols

This is what I have been working on lately. those of you who know me" know that I cannot stand to work on one thing at a time. this is a green scarf I just started" it actually started out as one of those childrens head bands but I liked the pattern so well that I added too it and decided to make it into a scarf.

The next one is  a red basket weave baby blanket that I started just because I like the pattern. Hear that Kerrie?

And the last one is yet another baby blanket in the grandmothers pattern just because I wound up a messy ball of yarn and it sounded good. I also have a gorgous red scarf going on in my escape , hopefully one of these days I will remember to get a picture of it as well.

That is about all that is going on today. I have been running around in town so I guess I had better get busy and go through my email so that I can get something done. take care until next time.

Hey guys its Friday! a brand new day! its got to be better then yesterday. you know that old saying measure twice and cut once. wellllllllll I got excited about what I was making and cut without thinking and messed up the whole piece of fabric darn it! Anyway today is a new day. right now I am doing laundry while reading all my messages and getting computer stuff done.
I have a question for you"  How many of you have rice cookers? Do you actually use them or do they just take up space? I have been reading a lot about them lately and they sound very convenient. hubby says we already have a rice cooker a pot with a lid. mennnnnnnnnnnn!!!! this coming from a man that just had to have a juice maker which I think he has used twice, and an ice cream machine that has been used once". and of course I had to have a waffle maker which has been used maybe three times. so I am no better about gadgets then he is. soooooooo this is why I am taking this little survey to see whether I really need one or not. We don't usually eat a lot of rice but I suspect that if we had one we might eat more? I have been reading about all these different kinds of rice that I have never used that might be interesting to try. come onnnnnnnnnn guys help me out here" what do you think????
O.k back to the laundry. Hopefully tomorrow you will see a picture of my new yarn bowl! yessssssssss!!!!!

well I slept in until seven this morning and since hubby uses a machine for aptnia I usually wear earplugs so that I can sleep through it. anyway he told me when I got up that I missed all the excitement this morning. as I told you before we have two humming bird feeders off of our deck and since we had around twenty of them born here this year it has been busy all the time. well when hubby got up the dogs were barking so he went outside to see what was going on and there was a water moccasin wrapped around the thing that holds the humming bird feeder and he was catching our humming birds. Doug is a quick thinker on his feet" (much faster then I am) and he ran back into the house and got our grabber (you know the type you see on t.v. for grabbing things in high cupboards ect. He got the snake with that and flung it down. well it crawled into our flower bed so he spent the next few minutes getting it out of there. then he killed it with a shovel . sooooooo sad " not the snake I am glad he is gone but he had gotten at least one of our humming birds. Well I have not even had my coffee yet so will close for now. just another exciting day in n.c. take care folks.

Its hump day and even though I am not working right now I feel it! somehow I have done something to my shoulder blade and it is driving me crazy. I suspect the new pillows we bought might just be the culprit. I changed back to my old one last nite and it hasen't been quite as bad today.

Got a chance to talk via email to my swap partner and have a pretty good idea on the colors she likes. turns out she likes the same ones I do" lols this should be fun. Now I have to get busy and make something. I have a couple of different idea's so will go looking for patterns tomorrow.

I worked on my basket weave baby blanket for awhile today and was disappointed to find a mistake about twelve rows ago. soooooooo I ripped it all out and started over again. Doug gets so mad at me" He says no one but you will ever notice it but there is just something inside me that won't let me leave it once I have seen it. Hope I am not the only one that way.

I found a saying today that I just love. It says today is the oldest you have ever been, yet the youngest you will ever be. so enjoy this day while it lasts. think it is perfect for a birthday card but its also food for thought any day.

Someone asked me if I believe in angels" of course I said doesn't everyone." I have always felt that there are angels watching over us. speaking of things with wings. do you all have a lot of humming birds this year? We have two feeders out and have had to fill them twice a day. we must have had twenty babies born here this year. that's just a guess because they are almost impossible to count. we also had fireflies this year. that is the first time I have seen any here since we moved here. Love those things! wish the grandkids could be here to see them too. O.k its time to go get something done. until next time take care'

Its Monday and I am at the computer procrastinating on getting something done. I did manage to go to one of my trunks and remove a garbage bag full of materials that I know I will never get around to using. most of them were vests that I bought (the panal type ) on sale at a quilt shop. I have a neighbor down the street that uses these types of things to sew with a young sewing group in her church. '
Have you noticed that your quilting style and colors change over time.? When I first started quilting I used blues and greens and browns. then I seemed to move to brites " probably because I have a lot of grandkids and brites and grandkids seem to go together. Next I found myself attracted to pastels and some of the colors that I strayed away from in the past I tend to use on a regular basis now. for years you never saw an orange color in my stash but my daughter wanted orange in one of her daughters quilts and once I started working with it" I actually liked it. I guess what I am trying to say is we should never say never until we try it first. Now I am good with most colors. although I am still drawn to Victorian types of pinks and beiges, greens and lacy looks I still like the brites as well. I recently made myself a circle lap quilt and have become quite attached to looking at all of those circles as I am all snuggled up inside of it. actually I am quite surprised that I enjoy it as much as I do because it reminds me more of a modern technique and I tend to shy away from anything modern in quilts. my favorite are scrap quilt as those of you who know me can tell by my posts.I love putting fabrics together. so many people find it difficult. one of my best friends used to come into my beauty shop back when I worked as a cosmetologist and she would be carrying a stack of fabrics. she said linda would you please match these up for me.  I tried to explain that if you pick a pattern fabric that you like and then pull those colors out of that pattern you have it made. then you simply go from there and add fabrics within the same color frame with different textures. Maybe it is just because I enjoy picking colors that it comes easy for me.
I have been matched up with my swap partner which is very exciting! can't wait to get started working on a project or two and then I need to go shopping. These swaps can be such fun.! I don't usually get involved in a lot of them because by the time I  get home from working I am usually too tirid to even think about sewing. and I always get involved in the teacher swap at school " that one goes all year long.  But this is the second tie I have joined Khristines swap. I so enjoyed the first one too.
Oh I made a new recipe last nite called korrean beef from damdelicious blog. it was very good! Love trying out different recipes . Do you all collect cookbooks? and do you use them? I have collected them for years and even though I look through them I tend to get my recipes off the net. am I the only strange one out there? O.k. time to go and try and get something done today. you all take care until next time".

Hey there" here it is the third of august already!And although I seem to be running all the time I am not accomplishing very much. I have been admiring all of the knitting bowls on the net lately and got to thinking that if we had a ceramic store in town I could probably make my own. soooooo I went through the phone book and nothing was listed under ceramics which is not unusual around here. soooooo I did the next best thing" I saw my boss on facebook and asked her and she happened to know as her granddaughter goes there" sooooooooo off I went this morning and she had one knitting bowl " which I took and painted it three coats and then three coats of another paint around the bottom of the bowl. I used a glazed paint so am reallyyyyyyy excited to see it once it has done its time in the kiln. While I was sitting there waiting for my paint to dry " I thought why not kill two birds with one stone as they say" and so I called an old girlfriend who used to work with us and has since retirid. I am always planning to call her and meet for lunch and life seems to get in the way soooooooo we met and had lunch. It was nice".
I also stopped off at michaels for some yarn so I was all set to start working on a new basketweave pattern that I found the other day. I decided on bright red since the studies seem to say that babies like bright colors. I have started it and have about five rows done so far. once I get all the knit rows completed and start on the pattern I will try and post a picture of it. That goes for the bowl too. I could kick myself as I had planned to take a picture of the bowl in its various stages but there was a little girl there that was taking up my attention most of the time so I am afraid I completely forgot about taking out my camera.
Well the deadline for the friendship swap sign up is tomorrow so hopefully I will find out who my swap partner is. I am getting anxouse to get started! Untill next time take care"

O.k. Its wednsday and I am actually remembering to post more often. maybe I can get this to be a routine. I don't know why it is so difficult for me to remember to do this. its kind of like having a diary sitting in a drawer right next to your easy chair that you fully intend to post to every day and never do" but I am going to really try and keep current with my blog. the biggest thing is that I love looking back over all of the projects that I actually have completed. its so easy to get into moods where you feel as if you don't accomplish much but when you look back at a blog you really do accomplish more then you think you do. I was also noticing one of the pictures of the grandkids and I have a very new one that I need to post. not only have they grown but there is a new addition.
Its hard to believe that they are growing so quickly. where does all the time go?????

Have been spending time searching my fold

ers and looking at different blogs trying to conjure up idea's on what I will make for my new friendship swap partner. it will be another couple of days before I find out who she is " can't wait! Love these things as they are sooooooooo exciting. As those of you who watch my blog know" I also get involved with a swap with the teachers at the school I work for each year. that is always fun as we exchange gifts once a month or more and holidays and at the end of the year we have a meeting and discover who we have been exchanging with all year.

 I am also excited about using my new sizzix machine. I have been waiting to get some more dies. recently I have decided it would be really great to buy a hexagon shaped die. I have started a hexagon quilt a longggg time ago and its one of those things you can put away and come back too. well I now that I have the sizzix machine I am thinking of all kinds of ways to make the cutting process sooooooo much quicker and easier ,

O.k that's about it for now as I am on my way to get the dreaded mamagram. you know who ever invented that one had to be a man! take care until next time.
 

 

 

Just found this post in my draft folder. will post it now but not sure if it will be out of order or not. New Toys!
I went blog hopping when I really should have been working on my wall quilt but was just too tirid to do it. Have been sick this past week with an upper respiratory infection and by the time I get through working each day I just don't seem to have the energy to do anything. wellllllllll while I was blog hopping I found the neatest ruler called Elisas Crazzy Curves rulers. I have always been interested in the drunkards path pattern but have not done anything about it. wellllllll now maybe I will. the price ont he ruler was reasonable (which I could say the same for the shipping. that cost me almost as much as the ruler did). anyway that is not all I did" when I am badddddd I am really badddddddd!!! I have been looking at the fabric cutting machines now for quite awhile and wondering if I really wanted one " if I would use it enough to warrent the expense of one. welllllll I was looking through Joanns online and they had the sizzix machine on sale for 59.99 with my free shipping coupon it was a no brainer sooooooooo that came home to roost too! Now I have nooooo exscuse not to have plenty to keep me busy. I am planning a trip to Joanns next week in Greenville so will see what I can find in applique dies. I also joined a yahoo group for sizzix machines. will let you know how it works out. and hopefully I will have some pictures of blocks with the new rulers also.

Well here it is Monday alreadyyyyyy the time just keeps flying by! I am sitting here looking at my sewing room. do any of you live in small homes? before we moved here we loved in a larger home and now I have had to downsize and it seems like I am always looking for storage idea's. I have come up with one or two that have helped such as the over the door shoe holders. I use them for yarn as they hold a lot and it is easy to see your yarn color so that you can simply grab it and go. I have a small plastic holder much the same for my earrings. I wish that I could magically add an extra room or two . the thing that bothers me the most is my kitchen. I have nooooo storage wellllllll not enough". we have added shelves given away our dinning room table and chair set and installed a kitchen island with cupboards below to help but it still isen't enough. I bought a small bookcase for my cookbooks and it is already full beyond capacity. am wondering if I  shouldn't have put another bakers rack there so that I would have more storage. which brings up yet another subject. how many of you collect cookbooks? tell me do you actually use them? I find that I collect all of these cookbooks and never seem to use them. I spend more time downloading recipes on the internet and trying them. just doesn't make sense. I have a large bookcase in my craft room that is over filled with quilt books and patterns. maybe I could go through them and clean out a couple of shelves for my favorite cookbooks and get rid of the rest and then add another bakers rack?????? if you have any great storage idea's I would love to hear them!
School will be starting up again very soon. Someone asked me in church yesterday if I was getting excited for it to start and I had to say nooooooooo I am still enjoying being lazy and not punching a time clock. I think this is going to be my last year as I hope to retire next year. Will have to wait and see how things go. We have a joanns moving into town soooooooooo I may have to continue just to support my fabric and yarn addictions. O.k. enough of my rambling outloud . take care until next time. By the way if anyone is interested. khris is having a friendship swap again and you can find it by looking at my sidebar to the right. I have entered it before and have entered it again this year" it is always a fun swap!

I cannot tell you where all the time has gone " the summer is almost over with and it will be time to go back to work before I know it. I feel like it has slipped through my fingers as I have gotten very little accomplished. I did go and see my daughter and the grandkids which was the highlite of my summer.The flight over well but was beginning to wonder if I would ever get back home. When I left Spokane they were thirty five minutes late because they had to change a tire and then they couldn't decide whether it actually needed to be changed. and once I flew into Denver I had to run like crazy to catch my flight to Raleigh. after I gave them my ticket and went down to the plane they had everyone stopped because they had over booked. I was just waiting for them to tell me I couldn't get on that plane and they would have gotten a few choice words as we book over a month in advance.
Ohhhhhhhh you might have noticed sew prim khris on my sidebar. she is having a friendship swap which I have already joined as it sounds like fun. I joined it one year and met a very nice lady who made me the most gorgous doll! I was soooooo surprised as I didn't expect anything that intricate. she still resided in my sewing room and I look at her and think of pam every day!
Oh I found a couple of casserole dishes while I was gone. I have looked and looked around here and they just don't seem to have them. one I found at my son in laws fathers auction and the other at a yard sale.

I have been working on a butterfly quilt"

That's about all I have been up too besides knitting lots of dishcloths and I am working on a scarf currently. once it gets a little farther along I will try and remember to get back here with a picture. take care until next time.

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2011/06/running-in-circles-tutorial.html Just wanted to come back and add this blog " thought it might be of interest to some of you" have fun!

O.k. lets try this one more time" I just finished writting a post and tried to add some pictures and nothing worked. this just isen't my day.
I have had a bad week with an upper respiratory infection so by the time I get home from work I haven't had the energy to do any quilting just sitting at the computer for inspiration. I found a ruler set that I think I am going to really enjoy. its called Elisas crazzy curves and you can make drunkards path blocks ect. with it.

 Then I received a coupon from joanns and they happened to have the sizzix machines on sale " well they also sent me a free shipping and handling coupon sooooooooo you guessed it! I got one! I am so excited to use it and the ruler. I am going to joanns in Greenville next week when we head down there for hubbies doctors appointment so hopefully I will find a cute applique die that I can use for quilting. that is why I bought the machine. its doubtfull that I will ever get into scrapbooking as I already have wayyy too many hobbies as it is and not enough room to hold them all. I also joined a yahoo group for quilters who use the sizzix machine. will hopefully have some pictures to post next time from both of my new toys.

Guess I will quit writting now as I keep getting interrupted by hubby. steven our one of our grandsons is comming over to dinner tonite and we are having fajittas. well hubby wants to cook them but dosen't know what to do so he keeps asking me" I told him I would cook them but he seems to want too so now I have been delegated to take care of the tortia shells. think I can handle that lols take care untill next time.

Its saturday yessssssssssss!!!! Time seems to rush by so quickly " including the weekends. I came home yestarday and found hubby under the house working on the air conditioning duct. he had been under there the day before and pulled it out as he said it has deteriorated. wellll he looked awfull and said he had been under the house since eleven that morning" it was three o.clock when he came out". How do you tell a man that is 73 years old that he is toooooooo dang old to be crawling around under the house ? He is sooooooo sore today he can hardly move. His grandson was over last nite and said why didn't you call me??? He said no " everyone is always calling you to do things and I just didn't want too". Did I mention the word stubbornnnnnnnnnnn. anyway that duct has apparently been shot for quite awhile as there is a hugeeeeeeeeeee difference in the air we are getting into the house. so I can just imagine our heat bills and air cond. bills are going to drop".
After fixing dinner for the three of us" I got started on a new washcloth pattern or dishcloth which ever you want to use it for.Its called the basket weave and I am loving it! the texture in you hands is wonderfull! and it is an easy pattern that goes together quickly. this may become my new favorite!
untill next time".

One more unfinished project on its way to fiality. I found a bag full of squares called the ducks in a row block and decided I should at least get them together and that way I would be much more likely to add a border later on.
Should make a nice lap size quilt with borders on it. untill next time " I am off to see what else I can get into" .

Easter vacation is just about over with. we return back to school monday. Have enjoyed being off and relaxing soooooooo much! Really haven't accomplished as much as I thought I would but some things have been in the works. I started this cute wall hanging !

I have been in one of those moods where I just could not get interested in anything I saw . anyway needless to say that all ended when I came upon this little jewel. He makes me smile every time I look at him so he will go next to my sewing machine when he is finished.

I have also been working on some of my knitting.

This is the beginning of a baby blanket. and I have also been working on a cable scarf. the cables do not show up very well in this picture but as time goes on " I will see if I can't get a better picture of it.

Hmmmmmmmm you can't even see the cables in the middle" there has to be a better way to take pictures of these things. will do some investigating to see if I can figure it out.
Other then this I have been knitting more dishcloths and a lot of relaxing. Hope all is well with all of you" take care untill next time.

Finally Finished!

Well I finally managed to get my room finished. I have rearanged and put in a new cutting table and everything is about as good as it is going to get. the bookcase is still a bit of a mess but will be taken care of eventually. couldn't resist taking a picture of my african violet as it is doing so well right now.
Have not managed to do a lot of sewing. I did make the pincushion scrap holder by the machine and am working on a little miniature quilt that I may put somewhere around my machine.

This morning we went to church and found out that our pastor is being transferred. this is the one thing I definately do not like about the methodidst religion. I was born and raised a Luthern but don't seem to find a lot of them around here so I joined a methodist church not far from our home. We really enjoy our pastor and everyone had tears in their eyes after his announcement today. I may have to go back to looking for a Luthern church as I don't think I want to go through this again. Back home I grew up with only one minister and I have to say i like it that way. Guess we will have to see what happens.

We have Easter break comming up at school so I am really looking forward to the time off. maybe I can get something accomplished around here and still enjoy the rest. I have a master bath that has the most ungodly wallpaper in it. Have been planning to paint it ever since we bought the house but have not had a chance to do it. Would loveeeeee to get that done or at least started. Wish me luck. O.k. untill next time.

Its Fridayyyyyyy yesssssssssssss!!!! Can you tell its been a longgg week! I had some medical tests done on wednsday and work was a bear all week long so everyone is thrilled that friday is here!

Not only that but my hubby finished my cutting table and I loveeeee it! Originally it was supposed to have six baskets on the front and six on the back which it does but he surprised me by adding the exrta storage on the side. you can't see it because it is behind the pegboard with all my rulers which was another thing he added. I just love this cutting table and cannot believe how much fabric it holds. I still have not finished  cleaning up my room and the baskets in the back have not yet been filled but by the time they are " my room should look half way neat for a change. I was watching a vidio on utube from the missouri quilt channel on a cute little tote bag. I need a new one for work so this might as well be my first project using my new cutting table. take care untill next time.

Well here it is saturday again" I have been busy alll day long and right now I feel like I have been up for sixteen hours instead of only six. I started off planning to cook something great and wonderfull but was missing one or two ingredients for everything I decided to cook. soooooooo told hubby later on we would run into town and grab a bite. with all the work I have done today I deserve it. this is supposed to be my one and only day off " and all I have done so far is work. when the menue thing didn't come to gether I worked on the laundry and while I was doing that " I decided I should start working on my room while I am waiting for my new cutting table. what a messsssssssssss there is sooooooooo much stuff to go through. I finally managed to get my sewing table moved to the other side of the room which was nice because it gave me the full use of my design board which I didn't have before. Then I hauled several boxes out to the trailer that there were just no room for with the new set up. I took a break for lunch and then helped hubby to get a new light up by my sewing table. I realized no one had gotten the mail so that is what I did next. I walked down the driveway and up to the highway to get the mail. Rascal was so good" he started following me and I told him to stay and that is exactly what he did. when I got home with my hands full of mail and opened the door our other dog tripod flew out and I dropped everything and dove for his collar. here I am laying sprawled out on the front deck and hubby is snoozing in his recliner while all of this is going on. I yelled for him and he woke up and came out and I can only imagine what was going through his mind at that moment but I couldn't get up and hang onto tripod too. anyway he got the dog and I got up and although I am sore and cut my arm a bit I am fine. Its been a longggggggg day and I don't have a lot to show for it " even though I know I have accomplished quite a bit. I guess some days are like that. we are planning on going to lowes after work tomorrow to pick up what we need to put the cutting table to gether. I am hopeing that once we have it together a lot of the extra bags and boxes with material will vanish into the pull out baskets and help to clean my sewing space up just a little more. once it is all done I will post pictures . O.k. off to answer some emails" untill next time.

Addy for cutting table"""
I went back and searched so that I could give you all the addy for the cutting table and to also give her the recognitions she deserves for such a great idea. It was created  by Suzy from Georgia Peachez blog. Thanks so much Suzy!!!!

Welllllllll here it is sunday the third already. I swear I don't know where the time goes! It seems that by the time I get finished working all week and home for the weekend " all I manage to do is get the laundry done and go to church. we did stop by bed bath and beyond today! ya just gottaaaaa love that store! I ordered a kitchen aid coffee pot. I have another coffee pot now that no matter how often you clean the darn thing the coffee dribbles out of it at a slow pace. the new one will take up a much smaller space as it is a four cup coffee pot anddddddd it matches my kitchen aid mixer!

I am also working on going through my messy sewing room so that I can clean off my current cutting table which is a work table that I bought from lowes thinking it would work well . it has been very nice  buttttttt in looking at different blogs I was soooooooo inspired by a cutting table that I saw on one of them. she used shelveing units from target. she used six of them and then put a cutting table on the top of that. I saved the picture as I wanted to make one like it for my sewing room. I hope she dosen't mind my showing it too you as I cannot remember which blog I saw it on. if anyone knows please tell me as I would love to give her credit for a greatttttt idea! My room is much too small for this one so I bought two of the shelfs which will contain twelve boxes to store fabric in. I will have hubby put them back to back I think: and place a cutting space on top of that. would love to have one exactly like hers if I onlyyyyyy had the room but alas this one will still be a very welcome addition. Now I just need to find some place to put all the stuff I had stored on top of the other old one. It seems like no matter how many times I reorganise there is just never enough space " Do you all feel that way or is it just me"?
Hopefully I will have it up and running in the next week or two so will include pics when it is finished. I think I will have to hang hooks or peg board to the sides so that I can hang rulers ect.
Onto the next subject. I loveeeeeeee recipes! and last week I found a new one for a banana cake . I am always baking something to take to work. there are one or two of us that bake things and the others will buy something as most of them don't bake . I had high hopes for this banana cake because it was a very time consuming recipe. it did turn out good but too me it tasted more like banana bread with cream cheese frosting on the top. next time I will avoid all the time consuming measures and simply use my banana bread recipe and add frosting. O.k. thats about all I can think of for now so untill next time ".

Had a very nice day at home yestarday except for the couple of hours I left and went out to lunch with two of my friends from work . We had a nice lunch at the olive garden and then we each went our own way. I stopped off at the mall and went into bath and body works. would you beleive I spent fourty dollars and could have carried it in one hand. Well at least my granddaughters and my sec. pal at work will be happy I stopped by. lols
Nothing quilty to report and its time to go back to work. I have a dress I need to work on for my daughter in law that is probably all I will manage today. take care untill next time.

This is  what we woke up too this morning" even though we come from snow country we are staying home today because after watching the news there have been wrecks all over the place. apparently the roads turned to ice last nite  so no church this morning. will have to see what else I can manage to get into. I do have a pile of mending but right now that dosen't sound too exciting. I also need to make up some eye glass cases so maybe that is what I will do".  take care untill next time.

Here it is saturday and so far all I have done is go go gooooooooooo. I got up and colored my hair the first thing this morning, Then I got busy and made another pair of pillowcases for my grandson to add to the pair I made the nite before. I was up untill ten thirty sewing. It seems like time just gets away from me" every spare minute seems to be used up. I finished my daughters chrocheted granny square and got it in the mail a couple of days ago. she received it and loves it. It is always fun to make things for people who love them". after I finished the pillowcases I made a little heart bookmark that I found on sew many quilts blog. Then hubby got home from the great grandsons basketball game and brought me Rascals dog bed to mend. He insists on pulling it out of his dog house and dragging it out in the middle of the yard to lay on it. in between all of this I have been doing laundry. after starting this my hubby came in and said tripod has gotten off of his chain. we have a long cord that goes across the backyard so that he can run back and fourth and he snapped it off completely and so it was outside to see if we could catch him. Let me tell you" He may only have three legs but that dog can outrun any four legged dog I have ever seen. And do you think he comes when you call himmmmm nooooooooooo""" so we are both walking all over the yard and the neighors yards hoping he has not gone down to the creek and met some nasty snakes or out to the highway when I finally saw him over at one of the neighbors. Doug came up behind me and was out of breath because he has heart problems so I managed to sneak up behind him and thank God the cord was still attached and long enough for me to grab it before he knew I was close enough to catch him. I swear I am getting too old for this drama. I miss the days when we had little dogs that we could take out and not worry about. anyway here is a pictue of the pillowcases and the doll quilt that is all finished except the little seam on the side to close,