Weekend wedding plans...

Little Timmy Muller is getting married tomorrow. I haven't seen him in over 10 years. I first met him when he has about one year old. The Mullers were our next door neighbors in Mahopac, NY. Linda (his Mom) and I had many, many adventures as we were young mothers together. We each had 3 children-Tim was the only boy in the group. It was a good time. We have so many memories of the good and bad times. Last evening Linda, her Mom and Tim's younger sisters and Wim arrived in Atlanta. Linda and Kaarin live in Rhode Island now, Krista and her significant other live in Vermont. We all met at Kris and Tyler's house for a late supper last evening. I was struck by the fact that Linda and I are now about the same age as her mother was when we first met. Emma is now 91 years old. She has aged well. She does not look that much different than I remember her although she now is quite soft spoken. Our children are all adults now and I must say, I think Linda and I did a good job! They are all great kids.

This morning we will meet at Sue's house for awhile since Sue can not go to the wedding as Sarah has her ballet recital this weekend. I will drop off Bailey for the weekend this morning as well.

This afternoon we all will head out to Eatonton for the festivites. Don't know quite where we are all staying but Tim has made arrangements for us somewhere. We will have more time to spend together and that is what counts.

I have been blessed this month with being able to spend good time with cherished old friends from NY. I wish they were closer but distance does not sever the bonds that we have with each other. I wish they were closer-I miss them. Linda, kathy and me-the women of Mahopac!

Call me the stripper.....

This is my new happy quilt top. It is made with a jelly roll of Moda fabric "fresh squeezed". I just love the colors-it makes me want to go and get some lemonade!
The pattern is called "Sunshine Makes Me Happy" and it is in the book Strip Happy-Quilting on a Roll. I added an extra border. I will also bind the quilt in the outer border fabric. I picked up the same fabric for the back in the layer cake packaging. I am just going to make blocks. It really went together quickly-my kind of quilt top!!

Orange Crush???

So after work this afternoon, I finished the last of step 5. I decided to try to figure out the pattern. i think this is it because I used all of the completed blocks. I do have over 40 blocks of step 2 left over. Maybe that is part of the border. I decided I did not want to fight with the bias on the one triangle, so I cut blocks 5.5 inches and cut them on the diagonal twice (per the directions.) I have enough trouble with wonkies without adding to it!
I am not too sure aout the colors I selected but it is too late now.

Oange Crush-step 5

Last evening when I checked, Bonnie had published the next step of the mystery quilt. Now the pieces are coming together. Although where she has orange, I have the red. I wonder if there is too much dark and not enough contrast. i decided to push on, instead of changing colors again. So this afternoon, I cut some of the red and brown and started to put it together. I have made 10 blocks, so far. I laid it out on the floor and I think it is not going to look too bad. It is not really my taste but I will press on. It looks like the top is set on point. We will have to wait for the next step.

I only worked until about 1 today. I will probably be stuck there late for the rest of the week since Q will be at another facility until Friday. After work I ran back down to Sweet Home to replace the screw up. I made good progress over the weekend on the jelly roll I bought. I am ready to put broders on it. Another project that I don't know what to do with but it is such a happy quilt. It is the fresh squeezed pattern by Moda

Happy Birthday, Kathy

I remembered yesterday that today is Kathy's birthday. I will call her later and perhaps sing to her ....or perhaps I'll skip the singing part.
Yesterday I decided i would take a trip out to Sweet Home as I have not been there in awhile. I wish it were closer but that would probably be a very bad thing. Anyway, I got to see Melisa. She has not been there the past couple of times I visited. I am glad to see that she is feeling better Now I have some more fabric sitting next to the computer to look at!!

That was pretty much my accomplishment for yesterday. I came home and chilled on the couch for the rest of the afternoon! Me and the Bails-just chilling (and napping). I hope I will be a little bit more productive today but only time will tell.

I did find a great piece of fabric that Iintend to use to create a gift for Kathy. Won't she be surprised when I finish it!!

Waiting for the next step!!

Bonnie can publish the next step of the mystery quilt now as I have caught up!!!

Saturday morning and Spooky woke up Bailey and so we all were up at 5 AM. I need ambien for cats and dogs, please! I have already finished doing laundry and changed the bed. This is rediculous!

Happy Camper.....

Yes, I am the happy camper this morning.......
You ask why?
SCHOOL IS OUT.......NO SCHOOL BUSES AND NO MOMMAS DRIVING THEIR LITTLE PRECIOUS DARLINGS TO SCHOOL!!!! That is one of my pet peeves. The little s%$^ should take the bus and cut down on the traffic. On the up side those people are spending money on expensive gas-go dopes!!!!

The other thing that makes me a happy camper this morning is that I finished step 3 of the orange crush mystery!!! Woot woot. Of course I had to unsew about a million times when I constructed the triangles. Now the next step of the project can be published-I am ready!

Bring on the Advil....

I have now completed 82 blocks of step 2 on the Orange Crush mystery quilt. 50 more blocks to go!! The worst part about this step is cutting out the smaller triangles. I am using the tool that Bonnie reccomends but my wrists are killing me. I am fighting a little arthritis in the wrists and thumbs. I checked it out with the OT's at work because my first thought was carpal tunnel but she did not think it was because of the mobility that I do have. So I just take the medication and don't cut very much at a time. I don't know how many more of the little pieces I am short. I still need 100 to finish this step and then 88 more for step 3.

I will never be caught up by the time the next step is published.....

Survived the "weather" last evening. The worst weather was in Cherokee and north Fulton. Sue called afterward. No damage there either thankfully. Sarah and Emma said it was very noisy (hail). I am ready for "tornado season" to be over!!

Yikes...tagged again....

Becky tagged me....problem is I don't know many people to tag..but here goes

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names. Then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they are tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person you tagged you know when you've posted your answer.
Here goes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
I had just moved to Ga from Ny. I was newly divorced and beginning the next chapter of my life. I had just purchased my own home and was waiting for it to be completed so I could move in. And I had just started a new job doing something I had never done before!

2.What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order.)Call the vet and see if I can board Bailey an additional day so I can be with my friend an additional day, work on step 2 of the orange crush mystery, do the work thing, see if I can contact the guy about the repair of the flashing on the house,...that is it and I probably won't get them completed either
3.Snacks I enjoy:chocolate ice cream, Drake's coffee cakes, my-t-fine chocolate pudding,chocolate milk, chocolate chip cookies

4.Things I would do if I were a billionaire
Quit my job and play all day!! Design and build a house to meet all of my needs. Give an endowment to my old church in NY. Travel and drag along some friends and provide for my granddaughters educations.

5.Peeps I want to know about
Cindi(knapsackquilts), Laurie, Becky hit all of the blogs I know, but I would like to know about my friend Kathy (don't kill me), Louise.

Back in the Groove...

After having a major brain fart, I think I have gotten back into the groove. I wanted to makes this bag that I saw at the shop. Saturday afternoon I could not figure out the directions. I made drawings and thought and thought and still screwed it up. Had to make a trip over to the shop and of course the fabric that I cut out was already gone. But the substitue is not bad. It was really easy once they explained it! Note to self, never read " read all directions first". The bag is nice although I do not know what I will do with it!

I needed to get back on track with the Orange Crush mystery quilt. Since I had had another brain fart with the cutting on step 2, I decided to proceed with step 4. I now am almost finished with step 4. I have 14 more blocks to sew-just the rows-the rows are already constructed. I also began cutting step 2. I have the larger half square triangles all cut as well as the 2 inch squares. I have to complete cutting the smaller triangles. There are 284 of these bad boys needed for this step! I did make one one the blocks and now I know what I am doing! Maybe I am not losing my mind afterall....

Now it is back to work. I am going to go to the Grayson guild meeting tonight

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Last evening Sue, Kris and I went "ITP" to hear Chris in Decatur discussing his new book. We got there early (of course) and plopped ourselves right up front. All of the girls had read his most current column about his memories of their grandmother. Unfortunately my daughters do not have many memories at all of Irene-first because she was living in Fla and secondly she had dementia. But we did talk of her better times and the girls remembered a couple of times they were together with their older cousins. Isn't it amazing what strikes a cord in our memories. Chris and his older brother were always very funny. At any rate, I don't know where I was going with this but.......I guess I really am just so happy that Chris is successful and still a wonderful kid. His Nonnie would be so proud of him.

And now Sat. is here and I am determined do do something after I finish the usual mundane chores this weekend. I can't get into the orange crush mystery quilt. I tried cutting some of the triangles in step 2 and screwed them up. It may just have to wait until next month's sisters for a little help from Gretchen and Becky. Then there is the back of the Far East quilt-don't have a clue about how to proceed with that one either! I need to begin to think about the quilt for Kathy's new grandbaby but he is not due until Aug so I have time.... So what to do??? I have these 4 piles of the most current acquisitons sitting next to the computer in the livingroom-won't even discuss the condition of the sewing room. (That is probably what I should do). I think I'll have some coffee and mull on and fondle some of this yardage for some inspiration!

Nursing Home Week

The second week in May is designated as Nursing Home Week. It follows Nuses' day (week). So last week, everytime I turned around there was food. We were all even given a brand new stethescope! Now in my position, this is a pretty useless gift as I don't really do "hands on" care but the thought was nice. Besides it is my favorite color!
This week the activity department usually creates activites for the residents around a daily theme. Tuesday was "clown day". I did not go to work dressed as a clown. Yesterday was "50's day". I put on sneakers and rolled down socks and tried to look a little like that era. (Not with very much success!) Now I must say-I am really not into this dress up thing. One year though, there was "pajama day" and that was pretty neat. I have not got the slightest idea of what to wear today (Hawaiian Day). I don't have a grass skirt or a coconut bra! I often wonder what some of our more demented residents must be thinking.
Sometimes when I look at my residents, I reflect on my own future. Which one of these people will I be like? I sure hope I will be one of the nicer ones! Recently one of my "girls" died unexpectedly. I went in to work on Monday and she had died over the weekend. She was quite the old lady. She had a sharp wit and if you promised her something, you had better deliver. She was made a "greeter"-complete with her own badge and would sit close to the front in her wheelchair. She insisted on seeing pictures I had taken of Kris's wedding and my vacation last year and nagged me until I brought them in. I could not pass by her without giving her a hug. I miss her.
As some of the residents reach the end of their lives, I find myself hoping that they will die and be free of suffering. Lucille was not one of them. I guess I was not ready for her to die. I know she is in a far better place now.

I guess this whole thought process has been brought on by my nephew, Chris Bohjalian. He has a column in the Burlington, Vt newspaper and this week it was about his grandmother. She as kind of like Lucille although at the end of her life was an empty shell of a woman. My memories of my mother are different than Chris's but she was a character as well!
Chris will be in Atlanta tomorrow for a reading of his new book. Sue, Kris and I plan to go to see him. I have not seen him in many years. Talk about a dysfunctional family.

2008-12

12 quilts finished this year!!! Actually I have finished an additional 2 more that I am not counting in the overall picture (the 2 quilts I made for Sue to give to her teachers aide and student teacher).
This quilt is an early "pinhead" project. It is called Crossed Paths-can't remember the book that it was in. It is another one that has been sitting for a long time. I love the quilting pattern on this one. It really fills up those big open spaces!

I have to get back to thinking about the back of the Far East quilt for Laur. also there is the orange mystery quilt that I am way behind on progress. Maybe this afternoon I will dive into step 2 or maybe not.....

Yada yada yada....blah blah blah

So the weekend is over, and we survived!! Now that ordinarily is not a problem but then again this is Georgia in the springtime. I went over to watch the little girls Saturday night and got back home about 11 PM. Then I kind of chilled with Bailey since she had been alone. What a good grandmother! Went to bed around oneish. Now I heard the thunder and rain during the night and got out of bed at my ususal time (5AM). When I put the tv on I knew it wasn't good since the weather guys were on. Early Sunday morning is usually infomercials. Oh goodie, more tornadoes in Ga. Fortunately not too close to me! I wouldn't take Bailey out in the backyard since the rain had created mudpuddles.

After church, I came home and started working on the babyquilt. I was bound and determined that I was going to get this thing finished and out of my hair! Congrats to me-mission accomplished. Binding is on and the quilt is finished!!!

Saturday I went over to Stitch and Quilt and picked up the quilt I had left there. It is an early Pinhead project(picture to follow). I picked out a new quilting pattern because it has large areas of light colored material. The pattern worked out well. I put the binding on that one too-now I have to work on the hand sewing but the binding and backing are a black material-I will probably go blind trying to sew it!!

I looked at step 4 of the Orange Crush mystery quilt. Maybe I should just skip step 2 and 3. Since step 4 uses the blocks from step one. But I really need to read some more of Chris's book since Sue, Kris and I are planning to go tosee him on Friday night in Decatur when he will discuss the new book.

Sunday afternoon the wind did some damgae to an aluminum siding piece on the house. Now I need to find someone to fix it since I don't have a ladder tall enough to reach the area that pulled away.

Talk about a disjointed blog!

Misc. scattered thoughts........

Yeah for Friday. I don't know why, but I have been oh so tired all of this week. Must be the pollen! I have played catch up all week at work and I have not caught up! Hopefully today I will be able to get back on track so that I can start next week without stuff left over! But I am not counting on it!

I did not get any sewing done this week. I will have to put the pedal to the metal tomorrow in order to get the quilt done. And there is another quilt ready for pick up at the shop that will need binding. I am going to pick it up this weekend sometime and drop off "rotten vegetables". It is time that that quilt was put in the finished column.

Weather on both sides of the world. Laurie reported another earthquake and there were tornadoes across the South. Fortunately, our area was spared this time. I heard heavy rain during the night and a little lightening. But not even enough to keep Bailey awake!

I sure wish I was out at FaFa land in Covington. My friend Gretch is out there with Sister Superior and some of the sisters.

The accused...was she framed?

Bailey looks quite mellow in this picture. She is either being on good behavior or she is just tired from all of the barking yesterday.

I guess she had to protect the homefront during the day because the grass got cut while I was at work. Then last evening, there was a little yippee dog across the street and she had to bark at that too. Laurie, imagine what she would have done in the earthquake! (check the link to Laurie for her earthquake adventure)

The week is going fast. I guess because I have been playing catch up from having 2 days off last week. But I am pretty much caught up now. I still have to audit the census but I should be able to get that done today.

The bad houseguest!

Up until this morning, Bailey has been pretty well-behaved. This morning however, she was a naughty girl. My poor Spiff ventured out of his bedroom prison and was harassed by the dog. So much barking!!! Spiff is really a very gentle boy even though he is quite large. I told Bailey that I was not happy with her behavior. Like she cared. next time she will be the one banished to the bedroom!

On another note, this is nurses week and we are being bombarded with food! I am currently on bagel #2. No lunch for me today...yumm everything bagel with cream cheese.

Stopped at Barnes and Noble yesterday after work and picked up Chris's new book. Did not get very far into it last night before I fell asleep. And I really have to layer up the quilt this afternoon, so I guess reading will be put on hold until the weekend.

Already the weekend is almost over. Kathy is back home in Mahopac, safe and sound. Our time together went so fast-not that I had made many plans. What a lousy hostess! I guess hermits don't know of the exciting things to do!

We got to the airport early this afternoon and sat in the atrium. The airport was full of soldiers. We told each other that they were only going back to their respective bases but in our hearts we knew that most likely that was not the case. Boys and girls, hardly out of their teens. I wanted to cry. Well actually both Kathy and I got choked up. They came through the atrium and as has become the custom, the people stopped what they were doing, stood up and applauded until they had passed. All I could do was pray, please be safe. My friends and family all know that I am not terribly politcial but had I seen a congressperson, I think I would have shouted at him or her-enough. End this, these kids need to be here not fighting in some nasty place. Thankfully all my children are not involved. I don't think I could stand it. I only have to worry about Linda's son.

Got to talk to Laur on skype today and got to see her on the computer. I sent her a couple of pictures of Bailey checking ou the neighborhood. She held up the doohickey so I could see out the window of her apartment. It is already Monday morning there. It is still "Golden week" over there so she has a little time to do whatever. I wonder what awaits me at work tomorrow?

This is my life!!!!

Saturday morning and I am playing on the computer.......Kathy and I have had breakfast-chocolate croissants(life is good) and Bailey is having her first (or second)post parndial nap. She almost got attacked by Spiff but was saved by the babygate. I would have had to send a pix to Laur of BAiley with a bandaid on her snout! One of these days I think Spiff is going to get her!

Anyway, I was checking my usual blogs and one of my favs is Sawdust and Cowpies (I have a link). He cracks me up. On one of his blogs there is a singer doing the "remember song". It is pretty much me. I have taken to posting a note in my car to remember to shut off the lights and take the keys! The little alram thing no longer works and a note is cheaper than getting it fixed! Yesterday it took me about 5 minutes to find my car keys. They had fallen on the floor in the car! I have a major case of CRS! (can't remember s___) BUT at dinner last night both Kathy and I were able to sing the whole Reingold beer gingle. Do they even make Reingold beer anymore? And what happened to all those Miss Reingold's of the 50's and 60's??? Where are y'all now?

Today we are going to go to Laurie's pottery studio for the sale. I downladed directions to get there. Just need to remember to take them with me!

Stone Mountain

Kathy and i are having a good visit. Yesterday we did some catching up and then we went shopping at Discover Mills. Kathy is expecting grandbaby #2 (her Sarah's first baby) so we needed to go to the outlet center. We picked up some things for the new baby boy due in August. of course, I am unable to go into a children's store and not find some "gotta haves" for Sarah and Emma. Sue is going to kill me!

Today we went to Stone Mt. as kathy had only seen it from a distance. I had never really seen the confederte sculpture up close. We walked around the park enjoying an absoltely beautiful Ga spring day-no humidity, low pollen and a gentle breeze. A day like this is why I live in Ga! We road the train around the mountain and checked out the little shop. We watched the glass blower. We both decided that no way on earth would we get on the gondola up to the top of the mountain!

Tomorrow we will do some more exploring and visit Sue and the girls. We have been eating out a lot! Yum!!