A bit of progress....

Yay! Quilting class this afternoon! My 2.5 hours each week where I "escape" and just listen to the bantering and joking of the women around me, and soak up the colors and textures and projects that everyone is doing. I listen to all the hints our Teacher Extraordinaire (the super special Janet Salcido) gives us....

And every now and then I finish a quilt top....




















Today, I finished Karen's quilt top made in the Take Five pattern using all Asian materials.
















Next, I get to sandwich it with backing and batting, and machine quilt it - and then the darker blue print will be used also to bind it. Another F.O. soon!! (finished object)

This is the same pattern my transcriptionists and I used to make our Deborah's love blanky to use as she goes through chemotherapy and radiation......



















The little yellow blob is a card that everyone signed....We sent kits to transcriptionists and friends in Weatherford, Texas; New Bern, North Carolina; Perris, California; and Yorba Linda, California! After the finished blocks came back, Karene and I sewed them into strips and then the rows were joined, the backing (pink for breast cancer awareness) and batting and quilt top were layered and I machine quilted it....... :)

Hmmmm.....I just looked at the calendar. Its February 11......I don't think this is going to happen.



Still, looking at the positive, its better than having not walked at all!!

Flight for Paris, now boarding!

She's packed.....

Passport - check! Travelers' Checks - Yep! Cozy coat from Johnny, gloves, hat - Yes! (after all, its supposed to snow a bit!!)

Hugs for Sadi!

Bags to the car.....

And she's off to Paris and Rome with Kim (her sponsor and dear friend) for nine days!

Sadi and I, we're planning to go on some walks and miss our Laurie, together!

Oh well.

Progress, up until a week ago. Then life conspired to get in the way. Progress will resume. Just not sure when. :(

Once upon a time....

Once upon a time, we moved to So Cal for Mr. B’s new job. That job is old history now, but we have stayed here, and come February, we will have been in California for 13 years.

During that time we’ve finished raising our kids (at least in that hands-on, homework impregnated, chauffeur to soccer practice, curfew enforcing sense). We learned a lot, experienced a lot, and we’ve met and known some wonderful people. One of them will always be “the best son I never had!” (His words - and I wholeheartedly agree!)

He came to be a part of our family about 2-1/2 years ago. We had known of Patrick since we first moved here, as he was the son of our minister, and he and Karen were the same age/grade at school. They weren’t very well acquainted, but they each knew who the other was. Though Laurie was two grades behind him, he and Laurie were good friends and got into a lot of mischief together……for lack of a better word!

One of our first real memories of Patrick was the night we found him and Laurie sitting in her room talking at about 4 a.m. He had climbed up a little hill on the side yard, leaped to the roof of the garage, scrambled up to her window, and crawled in……It was during the beginning of the turbulent years with Laurie and I was working but kept hearing a young man’s voice laughing and talking, and went to investigate…..there they were just jabbering away, innocently enough, in her room. I remember Mr. B chasing him out the door and bellowing something about not ever coming back…..well, it WAS 4 a.m.!! I recently found a couple of pix of him from those years, while cleaning/painting the girls' rooms.....

Fast forward a few years…….the aforementioned turbulent years continued to wreak havoc upon our hearts and we all managed to get through them….. although Laurie was not with us for several of those years. She was finding her way (in some instances The Hard Way) and there was nothing we could do except wait. Patrick’s family was going through much the same thing.

Our Laurie came back home. It has been a long hard road for her and we are SO proud and so grateful. After she had been here a few months, she found out that Patrick wanted to sort things out and needed a place to stay. His parents had moved from this area to a new church while he was living away from home. He needed to stay in this area, and he needed a place to call home. Laurie asked if Patrick could stay with us, and we opened the door to the house, and just that quickly, the door to our hearts. I’m so GLAD he came to stay with us. He immediately won over the biggest hurtle - Max the Wuss Magnificent.....even Max sensed his good heart and after snapping at him initially, decided he was okay and regularly begged to be patted!!

This is Patrick and his brother Tim (who visited regularly before he moved to Salt Lake City) and Allie (Patrick's then-girlfriend and Laurie's friend) who has since moved to Australia.....Here they were all together to celebrate Patrick joining our crazy household. During the first year, Tim visited often and even joined us for Christmas. I thought it was so neat that Patrick could have at least part of his family for that first Christmas that his parents had moved away….. He has since been able to get some vacation time and visit them in their new home, and looks forward to a possible family reunion in Salt Lake where Tim lives now!

Back to our story. Laurie promptly went to Ikea and got a metal bunk bed set and claimed the bottom bunk…..with creative arrangement, the tiny room that had seemed too crowded for just her, became big enough for both of them, as long as they were very careful moving around!

The irony was not lost on him, I am sure, as he joined Laurie in the same room Mr. B had once chased him from!

Birthdays came around, and came around again! Patrick's and Laurie's birthdays are one day apart!

(notice Max poking his nose under Patrick's elbow, trying to get some attention!)

Over the next two years and several months, he roomed first with Laurie, then with Karen. After about a year, Laurie decided she wanted her space back….and Patrick said something about “well, I guess I need to look for a new place to live….” Karen piped up with “why don’t you just move next door?” and so he did…..the bunk beds traded rooms with the single…..

Laurie got her space back and Karen and Patrick embarked on the creative arranging that was necessary to enable them to share an equally tiny room that had seemed crowded with only Karen in it….

And again, it worked really well! I likened it to them being on a space shuttle, or in a very small co-ed dormitory.

Throughout those years, they slept in their clothes and learned to lock doors while changing. They learned how to coexist in a very small place. They worked out transportation issues, sharing the bathroom and budgeting. They grew close in ways only siblings can. Patrick was a stabilizing presence in our home. He quickly became a big brother to them both. He helped Laurie see reason sometimes when she was frustrated and we couldn’t seem to explain things. He encouraged her, and she him, in the rebuilding of their lives.

He suggested that Karen get a second job with Chipotle and helped her get scheduling at that job that worked with her various studying crunches or thesis writing. That helped make THIS day possible:

He registered his opinions the events in their lives…..and likewise, they checked out his girlfriends and teased him mercilessly about anything they could! They made him an honorary girl at the late night giggle sessions around the island in the kitchen. He gamely tasted Laurie’s tofu creations and Karen's Henry's Market finds, and survived my cooking.

He had a niece living nearby who encountered her own growing pains, and Patrick is kind of a “big brother/uncle” to her too, encouraging her and being helpful to her. He has such a good heart!!

He was helpful, cheerfully so, around our house. There was nothing I asked of him, that he did not willingly do, and do well. Everyone has chores here, and my floors were cleaned weekly by Mr. P. They had not looked that good before, and have not, since!

Life with us included some really strange adventures for Mr. P…Some adventures took brawn (helping load my Nana's upright piano to travel to its new home!)......some of the adventures required brains.....He has built several computers from parts for us (two were for a woman who worked for me). I loved having a live-in computer technician. I’ve restored or replaced my work computer at least three times during the time he was with us and each time, he helped me link my dictation computer (six phone lines going into it) to my work computer (which served as a platform to grab the dictation and fling it up on my website). We’re getting really good at that whole process at this point!

Here he had the dining room table covered with about four computers which all threw up in various directions. There were drives, parts, screws and shells of towers everywhere. Out of it came two dynamite computers that let Carol get back to work with me, and let her boys have a computer for homework and games, separate from Mom's!

He built shelving units in the garage.

He repeatedly and more importantly, patiently corrected our errors in programming and got our electronic equipment to work in the den…..

He helped me pick up a van load of plants from my friends Deborah and Joe one time….right before they moved. He demonstrated once again his sense of humor during the ride back home. Initially neither of us was really crazy about the fact that we were carting gorgeous plants, and likely a bucketload of creepy crawlies home with us….and at one point, I looked over at him, as we drove on the 91E in rush hour traffic and said, “so far, so good – nothing has crawled up here and gotten us!” He glanced over at me and said, “yeah, I’m glad” and then let his glance slide behind me briefly. His eyes got big as he focused on something right behind me, and he gasped “Oh My Gosh!” which of course caused me to grip the steering wheel, telling myself not to panic while going 75 mph in five lanes of traffic, as I screeched “WHAT??WHAT?? WHAT IS IT???!!!” I envisioned a tarantula, at a bare minimum, crawling up my seat towards me….

Immediately contrite, he said “that wasn’t fair, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that while you were driving – I was just trying to scare you!” And believe it or not, I was so relieved, I let him live….Snicker! I always thought I would get even with him by dragging the hose around to the little window over the shower on a winter morning and firing it down into the shower while he was in it….but I never got around to it.

He even buried pets that had been in the Morgue (freezer in the garage) forEVER, waiting for the ground to soften on the slope. Well, that was the ongoing excuse given as to why they had not yet been buried, month after month. He managed it in 20 minutes without breaking a sweat.

He helped make Max’s outdoor potty…..(here)

I LOVED having Patrick be a part of our family. He has a sense of humor that is quick, and made me smile! He took on responsibility and thrived. He worked hard, he got to work on time, and he became indispensable to his employer. He advanced in job responsibilities and salary. (He also brought home fantastic tacos and salads on occasion! )

But somewhere along the way, the very reason he came to live us became a completed reality. He had needed a place to call home while he gathered himself and his finances for launching himself again as an independent young man. And although I knew it was time…….

I’m so sorry that time came. (and very proud!) He has an apartment now that he shares with two or three other young men. He’s doing great! (I think! He's hard to find these days!!)

And our house is just Not The Same.

I miss my Mr. Patrick!!

A perfect afternoon....

Every now and then, I have a perfect afternoon! Our teacher was at the Road to California quilt show, so we missed her, of course, but Karene snagged the room for private use! She, Ellen and I showed up to sew the afternoon away. I started sewing about 12:30 p.m., and went at it until about 4:30 p.m.......It was so nice to be with Karene and Ellen!

I worked on Laurie's butterfly quilt, which is really simple in style, just 4 inch squares, but she really just wanted butterflies, lots of butterflies, not anything that was a technical masterpiece of difficult patterns....

The top is almost complete, so I will be able to layer backing, batting and top and machine quilt it....then its just going to need a quick binding and it will be on her new little daybed!

Progress!!

Driving home I took a look at the sun in the sky and stopped at the reservoir near my house which has a paved trail around it.....I only had a t-shirt on with my jeans, but was wearing the right shoes! The wind was whistling up that canyon and made walking a challenge....but I got out and pounded around that reservoir in record time before the sun went down.....I was chilly, but I was convinced if I had driven one mile further and walked into the house to get a sweatshirt, I'd never have gone back....and I needed that two mile walk!

More progress:

30 pounds of Greedy Gus

Sadi......having stolen the bones from two other dogs (Max, 100+ pounds; Nikki, 50 pounds).....
And the cushy spot on Max's dog bed......

Such a brat!

2.5 miles......97.5 to go

It just might kill me......but its still a good idea.

Its January 8th already.

And my tree still sits by the front window (thank goodness its artificial). I'll have to dust the ornaments before packing them, at this rate. The angel topper is already down, thanks to Sadi....who ran under the tree while chasing a tennis ball......unlike Max, who used to bring down the whole tree, little Sadi just wobbled it enough to make the angel take a swan dive.....

I made no resolutions this year....other than to try to make time for myself - an ongoing battle. I am trying to find time to exercise, time to cook/prepare foods for myself, time to squeeze in some doctor appointments, etc.

Here's a cute gimmick to add to my workout routine. Sounds like a good idea.....but then, so does a nap. Hmmmmm. Got this idea from http://runagogo.com/. A number of knitting blogs I follow mentioned it and I could use all the motivation I can get. So I went to TickerFactory and made a ticker, and put the appropriate 100 miles by April 1st button on my side bar. I really need to get serious about it, so maybe seeing the turtle move will be a bit of motivation.....



Note: On 01-08-07, this showed 0 miles done and 100 to go.....When I exercised and updated my ticker on 01-09-07, the ticker changed on this date also....Hmmmmm.....I had hoped it would be different each day, but oh well! :)

Current projects at this time: Further garage rehab, Karen's quilt, Laurie's quilt and finishing the Healing Shawl I started last year. Pix soon.....

One picture available now.....this is an example of a really effective way to wake up. The other morning, I was working in my office at about 4 AM and the rest of the house was sleeping peacefully. Suddenly I heard bumping and thumping upstairs and then the fire alarm went off.

It happens so much here with the various family members' cooking attempts local SoCal wildfires that I sort of ambled over to the front door to open it and see if I smelled smoke. I was peripherally aware of mumbles and curses and sounds of panic upstairs but assumed that Max the Wuss Wonderdog was having a panic attack because of the alarm and Michael was trying to calm him.

However, the bedroom door opened and to my astonishment, Michael exited the bedroom and started down the stairs carrying a flaming torch in front of him that turned out to be the bedside lamp. He had turned it on to get up and navigate over sleeping dog bodies on his way to the loo, and it burst into flames. Kind of a spectacular sight, truth be told.

Actually, he made a fairly spectacular sight also, parading to the front door with every intention of taking it outside to put the fire out. I relieved him of the lamp at the front door, after reminding him he was not dressed for the front yard (undies only, plus a flaming torch do not constitute acceptable clothing!). Needless to say, he didn't get any sleep the rest of the night!

Proof that its a fairly common event for us to be sounding alarms: Patrick didn't even get up, and the girls took a peek at Dad going downstairs bearing a torch and just went back to bed.....unperturbed!




















I blew out the flame and went back to work.....We didn't even try to repair this one - a new lamp was purchased instead.

Much more updating to do on my blog - but for now - work calls....

Gingerbread Boyz...Check! Chocolate Topped Acorns...Check!

The cookie plates are ready! Michael baked, and baked, and I am really grateful for his expertise and willingness to do it! The youngest daughter, Laurie, is hired for the day as my personal courier :) She will deliver them all for me as she's not yet started her new job, so its perfect for both of us....she drives and I keep typing, to pay her for it.... ;)

These go to all my medical transcription clients (surgicenter, ortho clinics, private offices, etc). Thank you Karen for helping me bag them up!
















And now that the plates and loaves of bread are bagged, labeled and maps printed and charted for Laurie....I have my dining room table back (except for a few more plates of cookies for neighbors!)....

So I am able to use the beautiful table runner my dear friend Karene made for me...

















I love it!! Thank you Karene!! :)

And now.....I am again....Le Tired!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Yay! Another FO

Finished Object Alert! Dancing is taking place in the kitchen because I have finished the "quilt that whipped my arse".......teehee!! This one was hard for me, but in a good way. It was challenging and I am really happy with the outcome!

I spent the afternoon handstitching the last six feet of binding and then burying all my little threads and basically tidying it up...















Here is the full view pic that will go in my quilt book....

















My teacher Janet really showed me a neat trick with this one. I used 1-3/8 inch masking tape to mark my outer border quilting lines - this really appealled to me - its kind of "Home Depot meets Quilting Grannie" and it works!! The borders are well quilted, and the stitching lines overlap and create a woven look to each corner. I was really liking that!!

















I also loved what happened on the back of the quilt with my quilting of the individual blocks. By starting in the center, and following sort of a cross pattern, I could quilt the whole square without stopping, and it gave the back a nice finish at the same time. So the back is plain muslin, but has the border quilting design and the individual block quilting design.

I could not have done this without the input of my extraordinary teacher, Janet Salcido. I just love her and it is a treat and privilege to be in her class! She is a walking wealth of quilting knowlege, and she shares it with a warmth and sense of humor that is just plain inspiring. I'm all ready full of ideas and possibilities for next year!

Next up..... Finishing Laurie's butterfly quilt!! And Karen's quilt, which she has not seen yet....but I blurted out that I was making, by mistake! Oops!

Presenting The Freighter!

It was a forgone conclusion, as I stated here.
















And after protesting that I would never drive it.....Karen and I took our first run in it Friday night last week, after she pointed out that if I took the old VW van which we haven't sold yet, that she'd feel compelled to follow me in her car; the VW van is THAT unreliable!! The most memorial breakdown we have had with it was on her graduation day.....but the van was thoughtful enough to overheat after the ceremony - not on the way to the ceremony.

Karen navigated for me and all I did was concentrate on puttering along in the right lane slowly, as it is still in the break-in period....has about 140 miles on it. We went to visit our favorite furniture store, IKEA (which I translate as I. K.an E.ven A.fford it!) For Christmas this year, the girls are trading bedrooms and getting new paint and new items for their rooms, etc.
















We hauled all this home ourselves and I didn't wreck the new Freighter. Successful night!!

And one final picture.....Michael's taste in stickers has improved.....He dragged me outside to see what he had put on his new "freighter" and I came hesitantly, expecting a political statement of some sort....Like the Bush/Cheney sticker he kept on the Acura for four years......

















Way Better!!! I love "smilies"!

Houston, we have lift off!

All those classes, books, studying and working have paid off! Karen applied for a position with Mercury Insurance (for this position, a bachelor's degree was a must!) and she got the job! Training session starts today!

A few last minute checks of appearance (business casual with dress down Fridays!), papers, keys and purse....















"Mom, I sure hope this works - I just QUIT TWO OTHER JOBS!!"
















And she's off!
















She's so excited about this job - good people, great pay and lots of opportunity for advancement, and tremendous benefits.... :)

Yay!

It smells pretty yummy around here....

cookies, cookies, and more cookies.......
















Michael has been banging out the spritz, and the little chocolate topped acorns, and I made snowballs (Mexican wedding cookies) and fudge and peanut/chocolate candies.... And he made my FAVORITES.....gingerbread boyz!! They are made from Grandma's recipe, perfectly executed, perfectly seasoned, not too sweet, bursting with ginger and spices....
















So Good!!

Here's a plate, ready for me to take to my quilting class to share.....
















And there are (sing with me now....) "24 loaves of bread on the shelves, 24 loaves of bread, take one down and pass it along, 23 loaves of bread on the shelves!!"

Actually three are already "passed along" and the rest are distributed tomorrow by my personal courier, Laurie! She's taking cookies and breads to all my accounts to say "thank you" for their business in 2006.....and the rest go to friends/neighbors/teachers, etc....

I am SO close, on my current quilt. Must finish the binding, take pix, and get it on the FedEx truck.....

Off to thread another needle and get busy!

Sigh. A new van on the horizon?

Mission accomplished.

I went to the dealership. I saw the Chevy Cargo Express Van. Michael wants one of these so bad he salivates just thinking about it. He drove one when he was a bachelor "back in the day" working for Procter and Gamble, going from town to town, all across the U. S. of A., hiring temporary crews and managing them while they hung samples of P&G products on peoples' door handles. Little tiny jugs of Era detergent, for example! He met a lot of facinating people, a few famous people (he sampled Hollywood at one point!) and made some great friends along the way. He started out running one crew, and ended up managing all the crews, nationwide. He still talks about some of the guys who worked with him during those years. He has a LOT of fond memories of those years.....so maybe this is part of it.

Its sure isn't because this vehicle is sexy. Or even moderately hot. Not even mildly cute. Its a cargo van. (Translation: steel box on wheels.)

Its not the mediocre mileage (12-15 in town, 18-23 highway).

I don't know what it is. I just don't share the anticipation for this particular vehicle.

I duly went with him so he could show it to me. I opened the door, hauled my ample derriere up into the seat and sat in it long enough for the air conditioning to be tested. When I looked like an afghan hound with its ears blowing in the wind while hanging its head out a car window, Michael pronounced it "sufficient". I will admit to being impressed with the air conditioning, and keeping California temperatures, and heck, even my raging hot flashes in mind....this is a good thing.

But every time I turned around to look behind me, where there should be seats, a hatchback, ANYTHING.....there was a huge cave. It even echoed. And the doors in the very back looked soooooooo far away......you could sleep 6 in it easily - if sleeping in metal boxes is your thing....

He just has to go ahead and get this. That's all there is to it. Its one of those things that cannot be explained.

One of his more "out there" reasons for getting is: to be able to leave town in a hurry with all four dogs should the need arise. Well, and the kids and wife too, come to think of it....

You know.....terrorists, wild fires, and all. Four dogs, a few dog crates to separate the ones that don't get along.....and all the things we might want to take with us......

Of course, the last time we had such a need was during the Wildfires of 2005......I calmly (well, the fire was still 500 houses away) went through the house and packed the laptop of the child working across town who might not get to come back and get it, the dog food, the crates, the family pictures and a bit of utilitarian casual clothing......

And my sewing machine and one quilting project. (No, there is no rationale explanation for that. Shut up.)

My father contemplated this whole Flee Van (Michael's name for it) idea on my recent visit home, and pulled on his beard a bit, and stated sagely, "has he thought about the fact that about the time he got to the freeway (2 miles from our house at most) he'll meet up with Seven Million Los Angelinos with the same idea?"

I was hopeful that Dad's question might squash the whole Van Plan, but Michael only sang the praises of the Really Big Gas Tank, which would get us through any bottlenecks and waits on the way Out of Dodge.....I mean, on the way out of Southern California.

Fine. He wants it really badly. We need to replace a car which is contankerous, old and unreliable at best - so - I think he should get it.

Karen and Laurie, in case you'd like the pleasure of feasting your eyes on it BEFORE it is parked in the driveway.... taking up way more than one space.....(its too long to go in the garage)....
I offer this:

http://autos.yahoo.com/2006_chevrolet_truck_express_cargo_van_g1500_regular_wheelbase_rwd/;_ylt=ArJ9CRtQpJlvGyMJTUe29wnChL8F

I would have liked to offer a picture of the car, but Blogger is, as usual, not cooperating. So be it.

I had a sudden mental image while driving home from the dealership, of Michael trying to put the dogs in the new van, and finding my long arm quilting frame and machine already in it......

well, YEAH! If we can afford the van, surely we can afford the long arm frame and machine, its only a tenth of the price.....You like my logic? teehee! (in his defense, he has been saying for a long time that he wants me to get the long arm quilter/frame - we just haven't figured out which adult offspring to kick out of the house to make room for it!)

Seriously - I'm fine about getting it, and I hope he enjoys rolling on down the road in it, to work, and on errands......and maybe bringing home the occasional large item.....and filling the Really Big Gas Tank....that will be fun too......giggle.

I need a name for it. He's been calling it a "Flee Van" so we and the fur balls can flee disaster, no matter what form it may take..... I'd like to call it something a little less indicative of active paranoid ideation....

The Great White Cave? The Overgrown Two Seater? Suggestions please.....anything but "Flee Van". Please comment with your best name suggestion, peoples......

KP duty

I love once-a-month cooking.....after its done. (Duh!)

No, make that, after the dishes are done!!

I made a bunch of stuff this weekend. Manicotti stuffed with beef and a little marinara sauce, and topped with a cheese sauce (3 casseroles- sounded odd, but worth trying). Salisbury steaks and gravy (2 casseroles). Sloppy Joes (2 containers). Beef was browned with seasonings and put away for tacos and other meals. And then I ran out of steam....

So today when I finished typing, I made lasagne using some of the beef made in advance.....















Domestic goddess status remains intact for another day :)

And then I made some butternut squash/pumpkin soup to celebrate autumn, cooler temperatures, and all things ORANGE! It has curry and many other spices in it - Yummy with a bit of sour cream on top to stir in....

Tomorrow, I attack the chicken side of the menu - Mexican chicken roll-ups (pounded chicken breasts, rolled around cheese and cilantro and salsa, rolled in bread crumbs and baked), homemade chicken nuggets, Tarragon Chicken with a honey mustard sauce....

On the quilting front, here is a progress report on the Quilt That Whipped My Arse from here to Pigeon Forge.....(big time!)...... I eventually assembled a quilt top that looks like this:












It has a bit of burnt orange and teal and a green-tinged tan in it, and the sash between the blocks is teal, and I have tan and burnt orangey-brown border material yet to attach. The fun part about machine quilting this one, is that I can follow the "pieces of the pie" in each kaleidoscope square, stitching in the ditch, and when its done, it makes a really cool design on the back of the quilt - kind of unexpected, but nice.

After that, I have borders and machine quilting to go on a certain butterfly quilt (that one is for Laurie Lu Lovebucket).....and then there are two more projects (UFOs) on my horizon.....and already two are in the planning stages beyond that. :)

And then there's my knitting...... my book of projects to make is now filling a one inch binder......So many ideas, so little time!

Happy Halloween!

In other good news!

Laurie had a birthday on October 7th....After the NA meeting, she gave me this:















(the small print on the chip says "Clean and Serene for 18 months")

I got to see her take this chip, and all the hugs and congratulations! She has such a dynamite support group right now - and she's doing such a good job! Its a daily hard strugle for her and I'm not naive about it. Its a struggle she will face the rest of her life. I only can hope that maybe time and each consecutive birthday can make it just a little bit easier!! It was heartwarming to hear some of the other women say how much they love her and what she means to them....

I love her too!! ;)

As for crafts lately, Karen's poncho progresses.....I'm making the Very Harlot Poncho by Stephanie (the Yarn Harlot http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/images/harlot_poncho.pdf ) and I'm really enjoying it. It is done on circular needles and it has been a great project to get back into knitting with. I'm already eyeing other projects..... One more ball of yarn and I can take it off the needles and add fringe.....just in time for cooler weather! Pictures will follow later, because right now it is a ball of knitted fabric, indistinguishable as a poncho (it is created from the neck, which is small, and GROWS with each row, down to the fingertips....so there are LOTS of stitches on the needles now....and it is a big lump of (quite nice, thank you!) knitted fabric! :)

I've been doing a bit of quilting (and I've named the quilt "the quilt that kicked my 'arse' from here to Pigeon Forge").....Here's one square before it was put together:
















Perserverance, creative cursing seaming, ripping out and redoing has resulted in a better result than I had on my last kaleidoscope quilt.....

Also, I am making progress on Laurie's butterfly quilt.....the squares are in rows now, just need to join the rows and then borders, batting and backing and its ready to machine quilt....She might get it in time for her newly painted bedroom, to put on her new bed! We were originally going to do that for her birthday, but she chose clothing for work for a birthday gift instead....so I have a bit more time!

I have started a project for Karen for Chistmas too.....and one for Patrick......

Didja know there's only 69 days til Christmas?????

New Yarn Swift!

While in Cody, I showed Dad a few pictures of an item called a yarn swift. I've been ordering yarn from a few interesting sites on the internet, and most of the time, they arrive in a hank, which needs to be wound into a ball......

A swift can be a fairly simple item, which holds the yarn for you while you wind it, eliminating the need for a cooperative husband or child to stand there holding the huge loops of yarn for you while you wind.....

Simple, except it was way beyond my capabilities to make one, with smooth spinning mechanism, adjustable pegs, etc.....and the price of the ones I found on line was a bit prohibitive.

When I showed Dad the pictures, I could almost see the wheels turning inside his mind. He loves to work out a puzzle like this, and for the next day, he would frequently scribble numbers and small pictures on paper as he turned the whole thing over in his mind. Several trips were made to his friendly Ace store (where everyone knows him and greets him by name - generally with a hug if its a female employee!) and he got a few small items which would ensure the spinning would be smooth and even.....

He had some beautiful black walnut pieces in his wood shop and every now and then, he would disappear into the wood shop and "make sawdust" as he called it......

He emerged one day with not one, but TWO, beautiful yarn swifts! (I had mentioned I had a wonderful friend, Deborah, who also knits and is going through a rough time with a mastectomy and chemo, etc, and he thought she might enjoy one also!! Shhh! I hope she's not reading this because it will take me a bit of time to get the clear coat on, and send it to her.....I'm notorious for taking WAY too long to finish things.....example: Karene's love blanky! http://joy-denise.blogspot.com/2006/08/it-isnt-ufo-it-is-fo.html )

Never the less, how cool is this!!!
















All I have to do is put the clear coat of some sort on the walnut to protect it and show the beautiful finish of the wood and its good to go!! We wound yarn til we ran out of yarn to wind! Teehee! I love it!

Surprise!

One of the most fun things that happened while I was in Cody was the Yellowstone Quilt Fest. It is a truly quality show - some amazing talent is displayed each year and I deliberately time some of my visits home if possible in September, both for the cooler temperatures (its when we are unbearably warm in SoCal!) and the great quilt show to look forward to, on top of the chance to see Mom and Dad.....

This year, I entered the show on Friday night and began walking around, totally unsuspecting, just drinking in the beautiful work of so many quilters. Suddenly, Mom grabbed me and turned me in the direction of a wall of small quilts......I don't even recall what she said to me, I just know my eyes honed in on a familiar little hand quilted piece I had done myself......oh my.....my piece was in the show!

I was a while getting my jaw off the floor. While I was stupified, Mom pinned a green "participant" ribbon on my shirt and took a picture.




















That wasn't all.....we rounded a corner and I met a sweatshirt/jacket conversion with quilted collar, and pockets, that I had made years ago....also entered by Mom in the Quilt Fest.....as a "Wearable". I was getting dizzy.

(Again, Blogger refuses to cooperate and load my pictures......I'm sure this is pilot error, but its annoying).

And one row further - I collided with the flying geese vest I had made for her a few years earlier......Also entered as a "Wearable".

I don't think Mom'nDad's smiles could have gotten any bigger. How they pulled it off and didn't tell me for the whole week before the show, I don't know. I didn't win any ribbons or anything, but I got something WAY better.

Mom later sent me the "report card/critique" from the judges, and they had some nice comments, compliments, and a few suggestions for improvement....that was really cool. But best of all, I got the note she sent with the pieces when they were entered into the quilt fest.....and her last comment about "if the pieces met with the requirements for entry, she wanted to enter them in the quilt show, because she was very proud of my handiwork"...... That's a blue first prize ribbon to me!!

Also while in Wyoming

One of the fun things I enjoyed was getting Dad addicted to Knifty Knitters.....Now, my Dad is one of those rare persons who can sew, knit, crochet, clean the sewing machine and adjust it, bale hay and run the tractors (after repairing them if necessary), deliver calves, make beautiful wooden items, and outline and prepare to deliver a really interesting sermon/lesson at church.....all in one day! (With time to spare enjoying his massive model train lay out, painstakingly building landscaping and traincars and villages....) And this is above and beyond his career of being a professor of computer sciences.....with a Master's degree.....and working for the Big ones, IBM and Honeywell, as well as teaching at a college for many many years......

Anyway, he had some wrist surgery a few years back, involving fusion of the joint at the base of his thumb, and this surgery was performed on the opposite wrist this year. Both fusions have taken well, and he's happy that he can still hunt, fish, and do all the other activities above....pretty much as well as before he began having problems in the first place.

I recently got hooked on the Knifty Knitters because they looked like a big brother to the little knit cord producing toy I had as a child.....my childhood version had four pegs on it and made a cord you could use to tie your hair, etc.....Using the same principle, these Knifty Knitters produce hats, scarves, afghans, etc, in record time....using a hook to pull the stitches over the pegs. I read a lot about them, on blogs and websites and a recurring theme was "they are easier on my arthritic hands than regular knitting". Lightbulb! I was enjoying them, but it occurred to me that Dad might enjoy them also......


Enjoy? Yes. Become addicted? That too! He has made 17 hats since I gave him his looms! He is planning to try to sell them at the Craft Fair in Cody in November......along with the BEAUTIFUL leather tooling items he has crafted. (I forgot to mention the leather work above!) Here's his leather working station and all his tools......

(imagine a picture here - blogger is not cooperating)

He and I were giggling that if we made any profit selling hats - we could buy more hobby supplies....yarn, quilting material, leather supplies, wood!


Mom is glad that he has another fun craft to pursue.....but worries about the closets bursting from yarn stash at some point in the future!

Mom took advantage of us concentrating on the looming, to cook in peace, and whipped up some absolutely delicious meals......she joked that I was staying at the 4-J Ranch SPA......and its true. Fantastic meals just appeared! And there were no dishes for me to do!


My mom has many gifts, but hospitality and cheerleading are two that come to mind for me most often.....She organizes and volunteers for so many things at her church.....she provides arrangements weekly for the front of the church to make it pretty; she is instrumental in making sure that the monthly women's prayer meeting takes place with lessons, coordinating decorations and visual aids that help get the lesson points across. She helps collect items for the women's crisis center in Cody; twice while I was there she saw something on sale, or something with a coupon (example: pillows at K-Mart) that would benefit the women's home, and gleefully purchased the items at a fraction of original cost and put them in a big box she will drop off at the women's home later.....She keeps in touch with the church members, checks up on who's sick, who's had medical issues, who needs encouraging...... And she is a help-meet for Dad in every sense of the word.....she keeps keeps him well fed without him realizing that its "healthy" food, she makes their home warm and welcoming.....She bakes bread from scratch, and helps Dad on the train layout too.....Sigh....

Can you tell that I miss them?

(I had pictures of Dad and Knifty Knitter, and Mom in the kitchen cooking, but Blogger is making my brain hurt today. Will not accept any pictures for this post. Sigh.)

A month after my vacation.....

Doesn't seem like a month.....actually seems like longer! I so enjoyed being there with Mom and Dad, soaking up beautiful scenery and time with them....
















It was a nice break....I kept in touch with my business by operating out of my Wyoming office, pictured below:
















We drove into town twice a day to pick up the WiFi signal and let me route work files to my transcriptionists, pick up my own work from my web site, and then we did touristy and fun things after the "work pick up"......

Like lunch at a really cute little cafe....















Or shopping at newly discovered quilting stores.....
















I better break this up into two entries (at least) so that Blogger will accept my posts.....