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,

Today has been a work day. It has been raining all day long. about the only thing I have accomplished craft wise is a little bit of knitting. I am working on an afghan that I found on raverly " it is made up of 7x9" rectangles. the colors are black, grey and beige. all it is" is knit but it is soooooo pretty. when I get more done I will post it. I think it is going to be a long time project. I am also working on a chorcheted afghan made up of scraps in little granny squares. the centers are differnt colored scraps , the middle will be an off white color and the outside will probably be some type of green color although I haven't yet made up my mind on that one.
The cupcake doll quilt is still waiting for the borders. not sure I will get the energy untill this weekend to work on it but who knows " sometimes I surprise myself.

We have adopted another dog. this one was sitting along side of the road one morning as I was on my way to work. He was sitting next to his little buddy who had been hit and killed by a car. I tried to get him to come to me as I didn't want him to meet the same fate as his friend did but although he kept starting to come he would continually look back to his little friend and go back. well I had to get to work so thank God for cell phones and I called my hubby to go and get him. when I got home he was happily playing in the back yard with our other adopted dog tripod. Tripod was hit by a car before we adopted him and they had to remove his leg. the vet nicknamed him tripod and it just sort of stuck. anyway the two boys got along very well. and hubby suggested we keep him. He has informed me since that I am not to keep bringing home abandoned dogs because we are at our limit. I informed him that he was the one who suggested we keep rascal or trouble as i call him. this little guy or should I say big guy (hes still a puppy) has quite cheerfully chewed up our rockers that sit on the deck, the patio furniture, part of the umbrella, several parts of the new deck, not too mention umpteen blankets that we have donated to the igloo dog house we bought for him. Every day I come home there seems to be something else he has found to chew up. If we live through this puppy stage i think we will have a nice addition to the family. Untill next time" take care"

Gee it has been sooooooo long since I have posted anything that I don't know where to begin. the last time I posted I told you I was working over time for one of the girls that was having problems with her foot. she is diabetic and had to give up the job. working on cement floors all day is not easy for someone without health problems but add to it the diabetis and it just didn't work. anyway I wound up with her postition. so more money but less time to do the things I like. I have been accomplishing a few things . today for example I finished an afghan for my daughter and also started a doll quilt for one of my granddaughters.
Have also been doing a lot of knitting. Can't think of all that has gone on since I last posted so will try and get better at posting. take care untill next time.

Where has all the time gone!!!!!

Life has really gotten in the way with me lately. It seems like there have been medical issues on both sides much more often then either one of us would like. I have also become more involved with things going on at the church. so that has kept me busy. besides that one of the six hour girls has had some serious medical problems so for the last few months I have been working her shift so not a lot of time to play.

That being said I have managed the time to clean my crat room as we went out and bought a file cabinet and new desk so that I would be able to work on the church books. what a mess this room was. my sewing space has been cut down quite a bit in size but so far that hasen't bothered me as I have done very little sewing lately. mostly knitting. Not sure how long this fasination will last but for now it has been very consuming. Its funny but I really don't care to knit anything but scarves, dishcloths, and hats. my poor hubby keeps looking at me and asking me what I am knitting an when I tell him he says don't you want to knit a sweater or something different. nopeeeeeeeee there are so many different stitches in knitting that it would take me a hundred years to use them all just in making scarves and dishcloths. Hubby does love the dishcloths though.

This picture is what my room looked at wth all the stuff piled up from my closet and everything else. I told you it was a mess. I wound up giving away boxes and boxes of material, quilts that I had started and not quite finished to the church quilters and tons of stuff to my neighbor down the street who is also a quilter.  It eventually wound up looking like this one.  There is still a small sewing table on the other side of the room so I can still do everything I need to in this room.
Anyway that is what I have been up too. hopefully I will be able to get back to my blog more often then I have in the past. Take care untill next time.

Knitting

Would you believeeeeeeeeee that I have actually taught myself to knit! Well with the generous help of all those utube vidios out there! some of the knitting sites have some great ones too! Anyway I have managed to learn to cast on and knit. Next comes the pearl stitch! They tell me that once you learn both these stitches you can do anythingggggg. I love chrochet too and have been chrocheting hats like crazzy for the grandkids. By the time I arrive there in september the snow season will be just around the corner so I know that they will come in handy. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh I ordered some Harmony knitting needles. I have heard so many good things about them on the knitting forums that I have to try them.
So far I have finished a scarf welllllllllllll I still need to add the fringe but thats no biggy. and I have a couple of dishcloths going and another scarf. can you tell I am getting into this knitting thing! My poor quilting has been completely ignored this past few weeks. its a good thing I finished all the grandbaby's stuff before I got into this new hobby. In a couple of weeks we are going to start beading at the church craft group so that should also be interesting.
I was laying in bed this morning thinking about my little house and how full of stuff it is" Kerrie you poor thinggggggggggg! If anything ever happens to us you are either going to have to hold one gigantic yard sale or make several trips to the dump. I realyyyyyyyyyyy need to start going through things before I get too old to do it and get rid of some of these things. I don't know why we brought everything that we did all the way down here from Idaho. O.k.......... enough depressing thoughts!
Doug is going to make brats with beer on the grill today and I thought I would make some zuchinnie couse couse to go along with that. Its so nice to just stay home today. This past week has been soooooo hectic.
I went to craft group at the church on monday and following that a couple of the ladies and I go to the senior center to knit. well then we leave there and go store hopping and usually follow up with something to eat. welllllllll I decided to drive and I never ever have problems with my car. It still only has very few miles on it because every place I drive is mostly short distances. welllllllllllll wouldn't you know we went into big lots and came out and the car wouldn't start. so I called hubby and he came down to jump the battery. wellllllll it started but nothing ran like the lights, wipers ect. sooooooooo we jumped on the freeway and headed for ford which is not far from there. we dropped it off and they called that nite and said that the batter had a bad cell and had burned out the alternator. sooooooooo the following day we went to get it and they said they had replaced the alternator " doug asked them for the battery so that he could take it back to where he bought it and get it replaced since it was still under warrenty. the guy told him ohhhhhhh the battery was fine. so off we went and after dropping doug at home I went grocery shopping. luckily I had stopped off and had my perscriptions filled and filled the gas tank before the groceries, because on the way home the battery lite came on. once I got home doug checked it and said he would call them in the morning. well we started driving it in the next moring and doug said whatever you do" don't turn anything on. sure noooooo problem! well when we got to the corner I automatically turned the blinker on to turn. wrongggggggggggggg!!! so it kept driving but a few miles up the road it gave out so thank god for cell phones ! we called and they sent a tow truck. This battery had burned out the new alternator sooooooooooooo they took it back and put in another alternator and we took the battery back and got a new one. sooooooooo now I finally have my car back again. ya knowwww being without a car drives me nuts! Its surprising how dependent we are on our vehicles even if we don't want to go any place just knowing they are sitting there waiting for us means a lot!
O.k. other then all that excitement we have been getting some produce from the garden. a few zuchinnies , some cuke cumbers and a couple of tomatoes and peppers. yummmmmmmm
Right now I am looking out my craft room window at our hanging geranium. we have two little brown birds that have decided to build a nest in it". not sure how we are going to water it now but will have to do it very carefully. I was suprised that they would build one in a plant but they seem to be working feverishly to get it done. I am glad they picked the one in front of my window as it is very interesting to watch them. If I worked half as hard my house would be spotless! Take care untill next time.

Schools out!!!!!

O.k. Normally I never post the day after a post " Not because I don't want too but usually if I am not too busy " I just don't have anything new to add. welllllllllll I just got home from the school dinner and let me tell you! I had something I have never had before. The girls all teased me when I asked what it was because as they reminded me if I were a true southerner I would know these things" Anywayyyyyy Its called chew bread and you guys just have to try it! It resembles a brownie in looks but thats where it stops. I just happen to get the recipe from the catering group. yummmmmmmmmm!!! Here goes. Did I also say it is super simple""""
1 stick butter
1 box brown sugar
2 eggs
2 c. self rising flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts They used wallnuts but I will use pecans Thats another word I get teased about" where I come from we pronounce them pecons and here they say pecans Hubby just tells them pecans is something you pee in. I knowwwwwwww thats soooooooo bad!
o.k. back to the recipe. "
Melt your butter and add sugar, remove from heat, add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, add flour, one cup at a time, add vanilla and nuts . bake in a 13x9x2 inch greased pan at 350 degrees for 20- 30 minutes. yummmmmmmmmm
You all take care untill next time"

Hi everyone" Its sunday!

Thought I would try and make a quick post before I get ready for church. I managed to get my tablerunner finished and just love it! I have decided to start collecting fabrics for baby quilts maybe just quarter yard pieces to use for the quilt as you go strip method. that is sooooooooo easy and so much fun! I am thinking it would be adorable to make them and then applique some cute animal on each one. They are easy enough to make that I could make a couple and have them ready for the next baby quilt that I need.  sorry the photo looks so dark on one end. not sure why maybe because it was early in the morning.

Have also been teaching myself to knit and found this wonderfull vidio that explains it step by step. so this morning I actually got serious and managed to get three or four rows down. (not even oneeeeeee slipped stitch! this is amazingggggggg. Have still been working on hats. I have decided that I will watch the sales and start picking up soft yarns as I found a couple of neat hat patterns for cancer patients and would like to start making them as I think they may be able to use them.

Lets see what else has been going on. ohhhhhhhhhh I finally broke downa nd bought a mandavilla??? think that is what it is called. These are sooooooo gorgous. Everyone has told me that they won't come back because they cannot withstand the winter and that they are an annual. mine is still in a pot so we might try and take it in this winter and see what happens. That is something I do love about living here is the flowers are soooooooo gosh darn gorgous!

We picked our first two zuchinnis from the garden yestarday and fried them up with cornmeal and flour dipped in egg. yummmmmmmmm I also made a new recipe I found for sour cream lemon pie but would you beleive after getting the filling all cooked and the whipped topping all made " I discovered that my pie crust from the freezer was not any good any more. I acutally had my hair in rollers which I do about once a week " I knowwwwwww terriably old fashioned (especially for a cosmetologist) but I am one of those people that my hair just won't hold a curl with a curling iron for very long unless I put a can of hairspray on it. sooooo here I stand with no way to go to the store and get another one. Why don't I just make one you say.? welllllllll by this time I am beat, have been doing laundry and dishes all morning long all the usual things you have to catch up on when you only have one day at home to get it all done and I said to heck with it. I put everything into covered containers and into the fridge so today I will pick up some of my favorite shortbread crusts and we can have it for desert tonite.
Lets see" I think that is about all that is going on right now. Monday will be clean up day at school and after that it is church crafts and then race back home as the principal is throwing a dinner for all of us to say good by for the school year. You all take care untill next time.