I did it!

I pulled out those unifinished Halloween projects and yesterday I sat down and finished them! Well.....almost. I just have to finish the binding on them. I got one completed. I will have them finished this week. What a feeling of satisfaction and pride. I will be keeping at least one of them to use as a table runner. The others I will sell. Or maybe use as a gift. I am not sure yet. But the satisfaction of completeing a UFO certainly feels good.

I have a few more of those projects. I cut out 7" squares from every pair of discarded jeans in sight and my intention is to make a jean quilt for Erik. I have strips of fabric I cut out (several years ago) for a quilt for myself. I am going to complete these projects! Soon.

As I sat in the back room hand sewing the binding on the little table mat yesterday, I watched the leaves falling from the trees and realized that fall is really just a blink away. Our next big adventure will be our Disneyland trip in October and our Fall Pumpkin Harvest Party.

I guess it's time to start that To-Do list!

Skunk!

Our dog provides us with hours of joy and entertainment every day. Every day is a new adventure, every thing a game for him. He digs, barks, runs and plays all day. He will bring home sticks (some of them are really tree branches) and pile them up on the lawn. Of course the gophers are already doing damage to the lawn, but Loki wants to "get them" so he digs. He barks at squirrels in trees and he won't let a bird's talons touch the soil - not on his watch. He is on duty.
And tonight when he disappeared I said to my daughter, "where is your dog?"
Her reply, with a shrug, "I don't know".
When he came in the back door, happier than hell, he just pranced on by me and suddenly I got a good whiff of him. SKUNK!
So off to the bath he went. I don't think he was very happy about having to have a bath. But we were all relieved. My goodness that dog can find more trouble in one day.

So while I was keeping him busy outside, waiting for his bath to be ready, he was certain he saw a squirrel in the tree over the house. We spent the next 10 minutes looking up (yes both of us), and barking (well - that was only the dog). I think it was a false alarm - I think it was a bird. While looking up, trying to locate that rogue squirrel, I saw a couple of bats swooping around over the house. I tried to tell Loki, but he was really fixed on this non-existent squirrel.

Finally it was bath time for Loki and as I settled back into my chair in front of the Boob Tube, I realized that life really is more interesting with Loki around. And because of him I take a few minutes every day to stop and smell the roses (or the skunk).

Dog Tails

So, Loki is almost 2 now. Of course we all love him to pieces and think he is the cutest dog on the planet (just like every other dog owner). When we come home after having been away, he races up the hill just so we can see he is working. Well, I was coming home for lunch on Thursday and Loki came racing from behind a bush, and maybe I was driving a little faster than I should have been and we collided. He bounced off the front bumper of my car (took my license plate off) and yelped. I screamed, of course, and jumped out of the car. I called him over and he was wimpering, and smelled like poo, and was coughing. He kept barkig at my car. He was shivering and I was checking him for broken bones and injuries when Amanda showed up from driving Erik to work. So after she calmed the both of us down a bit, we decided it would be best to take him to the vet just as a precautionary measure. So Loki got to go for a ride in the car.
The vet declared him healthy and fine - saying he might be sore the following day.

It would have traumatized me if I hurt Loki. I had images of internal injuries that would result in surgery (which I can't afford of course) and was very relieved when I got the news that he was absolutely fine.

Silly dog.

August!

Well since my last post I have been working on those Halloween projects that I started last year. It's just so much work. Maybe if I were more organized and had more space it would be easier, but most likely not.
I spent most of my day yesterday working on these Halloween wall hangings/table throws. I must mention again - quilting may not be my thing!
I made another trip to the fabric store where I bought more fabric than needed to finish these projects.
If I were just doing one of them, it would be fine, but no, I chose to do 6. Of course my goal is to sell them in my space at the Antique Mall - but who knows if they will sell. So many of my projects sit unpurchased. I still have cake slice pin cushions, and tea cup candles.....sitting unwanted and unloved.

And on my trip to the fabric store I bought a quilting magazine (because I am a magazine junky) and in it was a hat I want to make. So I stopped at Goodwill and bought a bag of men's ties. But now I don't have a hat pattern. Last night I went through my hats and found one that I like - and from it I am going to create a pattern. (ha ha ha - this should be interesting).

Pretty good at drinking beer

My husband and I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Oregon so that he could attend a class reunion. We took the pick up and we listened to country music the entire way there and back. Those song writers have the best sense of humor.

I just reviewed my blogs and realized I haven't been very good about keeping up. My friend died of cancer, my daughter graduated from high school, and I attended the Soroptimist International of the Americas Convention in San Francisco. And throughout I didn't write about any of it.

So Oregon - We went so that my husband could attend a high school reunion. I didn't go to the reunion, but I had a great time. Bend was having a Tour of Homes, and we visited 4 of the houses. Two of the houses had quilting rooms. Actually one of the houses was a quilting house. What an incredible house that was. Two of the rooms upstairs were designed just for the quilter who had purchased the home. It was inspiring.
I went to quilting stores, garage sales, and visited with friends and family. It was a very relaxing weekend.

May, June, July

today I finished two quilt blocks - May and June. I have been procrastinating. I cut out the fabric over the weekend. Today I managed to sew both blocks and was quite pleased with myself. They weren't nearly as hard as they looked and I really enjoyed the results. Also today in the mail July's Block arrived. But I leave in the morning for SF and won't be home until Saturday. And the following weekend I will be in Oregon. But I will stay caught up this time.
I also pulled out the projects I started for Halloween last year, and I have every intention of finishing them before October. I will do it. I can do it.

In the meantime I have been praying to the spirits that look out for me, and they have been answering my prayers in their own subtle ways. I know that I am responsible for my life.
I remember the mother of one of my best friends, who was always very religious. She was so excited when her prayers were answered. She had asked the Lord to have a yellow rose bloom on her bush, and it did. Even then I thought it was kind of silly to ask for something that was going to happen inevitably. So of course her prayer would be answered. I guess I just really ask for guidance and for things to fall into place. I realize it is my own efforts that make it all happen. The Power of Intention (the doctor who wrote that book - his name escapes me - Dr. Wayne Dryer?). I believe in the power of intention.

And I intend to finish my unfinished projects and not have more than one BOM waiting to be finished each month!

Doctor, my butt hurts

After a month of suffering pain from what I assumed was hemorrhoids I decided to go to the doctor. Of course you can't get in to see the doctor, you have to see a nurse practitioner.
This nurse practitioner scolded me for not coming to the doctor when I was feeling well, and came very close to accusing me of getting prescriptions from various doctors. Then she diagnosed me with an internal hemorrhoid. She referred me to a surgeon.
At the surgeon's office I had the most painful examination in the world. And the surgeon told me that what I did have was a fissure. This would be repaired with surgery called a sphincterotemy. They cut your sphincter muscle, and stitch it back up. This was to be accompanied by a colonoscopy. Yippee.
The day before the procedure I was allowed to have one boiled egg before 8 a.m. and then only broths, clear liquids, and Jell-O (but not red or purple) for the rest of the day. At 4 p.m. you begin the clearing out of your colon. First you take 2 laxative pills. Then an hour later you begin drinking your 2 litre bottle of halflytely. 3 glasses in I threw up. It took me most of the night to drink nearly all of the jug. I went to bed, and at 1 a.m. woke up with a rather alarming heart beat. It was beating irregularly, and fast. I couldn't count it. At 2 a.m. I woke up my husband and off to the ER we went.
200 beats per minute is what they clocked me at. And after three separate IV drugs, and 2 oral drugs, at 7 a.m. my heart rate was still 145. The cardiologist called and immediately my heart rate dropped to 88. And normal. So now they decide to continue with my surgery. They discharged me from ER and wheeled me to the outpatient surgery and slapped me onto another bed.
I can honestly say I will never ever do prep for a colonoscopy again, so it's a good thing they did it that way.
I can also say my butt no longer hurts.
And I'm pretty sure I'm not going to go back to the nurse practitioner for anything ever again.
In the meantime I'm only one quilt block behind.

Woman leaves kids in car, goes to bars

I just read this headline in the local paper and I laughed out loud. Seriously. This is news? I was that kid. Of course I was a teenageer at the time. My mother passed away when I was 11. My sister and her new husband moved in to look after me. My father wasn't really capable or so inclined. He worked in the woods, which required being away from home quite a bit. And when he was home, he was eating at restaurants, and chasing women. Okay, maybe I am exagerating a little - he wasn't really chasing women. But he did always have a girlfriend and that is where he preferred to be. So my sister and her dysfunctional husband moved in. Nan was an alcoholic. At first she was functional. She only drank on the weekends. But as time moved on she drank more and more. One evening she was in charge of my nephew and I. He was only a couple of years younger than I was (I failed to mention that I was born 20 years after the rest of the siblings). She took us to a pizza parlor, ordered us a pizza, gave us some money to play pool and left us. Finally hours later we decided to go home. So we started walking. Wouldn't you know it - Nan drove by, stopped, scolded us and picked us up. She parked around the corner from one of the hot spots and said, "wait here". Off she went into the bar leaving us to sit and ponder what next. We sat and sat and finally when we were trying to decide what to do, we saw her come out with 2 men. Imagine the disbelief and shock as we watched these guys toss her around and then finally into the cab of the pick up and off they went.
Well, the rest of the story is no better - we decided to drive the pick up home where we had to explain to her husband why she wasn't with us.
Looking back, and as I write this, I realize that she wasn't in the best condition - she was drunk. Those men weren't friendly - they tossed her up on the hood of the pick up and at this moment I'm not even sure she went with them willingly. And I witnessed it.
I feel like a kid all over again.

Crankiness is caused by work

I have been so very busy. Busy at work. Busy at home. Busy doing things for other people! I am extremely tired and cranky and I do think it must really be work related and I've learned that is considered a workman's comensation compensable reason to not work. HA, you think I jest. But no, there is an employee who has been off of work and most recently was giving a rating by a AME doctor and was diagnosed as just being generally cranky.

Well this describes me.

I'm not having any fun. I got to get this straightened out. I realize it's a bad attitude to have. But unfortunately I am stuck with it right now.

We have had company (again) this time from Tennessee. Really love those boys. They are spending all their time with my son, and it has been no extra work for me.

I hate for them to see me in this mood. So I must shake it off!

Now that we have finished the 4H archery shoot, I can get to work on the house and yard for graduation. As soon as that is over I have to work serioiusly on getting my DAR application completed. Which brings me back to my BOM project. I still have 2 unfinished blocks, and one I haven't even looked at and it's nearly JUNE!

What made me think I would ever be able to do this?

I just haven't had a minute and when I do someone wants something from me (hence the crankiness).

If only I could win the lottery......and then I could open that craft store and have my huge work area and sell blanket binding and double stick tape.

I could make that if I had time

If only I had time to work on the projects I want to work on. But I'm stuck in a world that is not my own. At least not right now. I did manage to finish the baby quilt for my co-worker. If I keep the project simple I seem to do better. I laid out the last to BOM squares and will sew them tonight....maybe.
My friend is seriously ill with cancer. My daughter is preparing to graduate from high school. My husband has a 4H archery shoot this month. My son has 2 friends coming from Tennessee to stay with us for a week. My check book balance ..... I don't even want to think about that!
So, with all these other activities going on around me I am not able to focus on my own projects.
I am planning my daughter's graduation celebration, and that involves yard work and yard work - because the place has to be presentable. So while I am side-tracked this month, I keep reminding myself that in June it will be all about me! Maybe.....

When Company Comes

One of my long lost high school buddies came to visit over the weekend. It's been 7 years since our last visit. She said to me, "do you mind if I bring my dog, Max?" and I said, "no, not at all!" When she pulled up in her 1 ton flat bed diesel pick up and Max stuck his head out the back window I thought, "HOLY CRAP". Max is a 100 + pound Rottwieler. Everything IS bigger in Texas.
Our poor dog weighs in at 54 pounds. When he saw Max he got behind me (like I was going to be able to do anything about it). By the time Elizabeth and Max left on Monday morning, Loki and Max were best friends.
You learn so much about yourself when company comes.
You really realize how much you appreciate your own routine. My house is not fancy, and very lived in and loved. But I start feeling insecure about it. I notice the cobwebs or dust bunnies and the bare spots in the lawn. While my friend was talking I would find myself making mental to-do lists. I missed Celebrity Apprentice. I didn't make it to the Soroptimist club's community service day. I made 4 trips to the grocery store and washed the dishes twice a day. And I drank a lot of beer.
So my crafting projects were set aside for a few days. I did make it to Joann's to purchase binding for the baby quilt where my friend quizzed me about how I was going to sew it on. Now I'm not sure...and so I go in search of my quilting book to see if that is indeed how I should do it.
We are all resting now from our weekend. Loki is taking extra naps, and his wounds are scabbing over and healing. The cats have come in the house and while still jumpy, at least aren't glaring at me. In a couple of days we will all be back to normal and I will get that binding on that quilt one way or the other.

Small Town Living

It's pouring rain. So I think today is a perfect day to finish a few projects. The baby quilt - it's ready for binding. To purchase baby quilt binding I have to drive to Santa Rosa. Karl is insistant that the baby quilt have silky binding. So....I decide to do Mother's day cards. I need double stick tape. Off I go in the pouring rain to CVS. They don't have any double stick tape - they are out (of that and a lot of other things) so I run over to Rays - nope they don't sell double stick tape. Ace hardware - they used to carry double stick tape - but today there is none. I seek out the helpful hardware man (who happens to be my son) and he tells me "if this is going to be another incident like the shelf incident yesterday I don't really want to deal with you." Only because I felt like the shelf brackets I purchased there were defective and caused me to have a fit and drop the f bomb a half a dozen times while trying to explain to him what my problem was. He was insistent there would be double stick tape and really would have wanted to prove me wrong.
So I came home with a family size bag of doritos and no double stick tape.

If I owned a craft/fabric store I would be putting the binding on my baby quilt gift, and working at my large spacious and cheerful work station.......

I think I will go work on those first Saturday quilt blocks.

Crap room

I decided maybe I should explain the name - Crap Room quilts. My craft room is just a mud room converted. I enjoy my room. I have a chair, TV, and of course all of my craft supplies, sewing machine, fabric....you name it I have managed to find a place for it in the small corner of the world I call my own. The room has windows all along the walls, and I love to sit and listen to the rain hit the tin roof. It's my happy place.
My husband calls it "the crap room". The name has caught on.

Block of the Month

So my friend in Oregon convinced me to try a block of the month - First Saturday - with her. I will be doing this long distance. It's now April and I'm 2 blocks behind. Don't be surprised. The first quilt block was fairly easy and looks great. The second one gave me fits. I finally got it assembled, hung it up, took a picture of it, and then when I decided to show the picture to a co-worker I realized I had put 2 of the units in incorrectly. So I tore it apart and put it back together. Ha ha ha - I'm sitting in my chair admiring my work, and I pull out my envelope and look at the quilt and look at my squares and...yes....you got it - it's wrong! I had to pull it apart again and put it back together. I think it's right now. But I'm almost afraid to start the next block.



I'm not a real experienced quilter. Obviously. I don't even know if quilting is the hobby for me. I'm too impatient. I like to rush through things and get them done. I have, like most crafters, several projects going at once, and many unfinished or unstarted projects. I see a craft, think, "I can make that," and the next thing you know I have all the supplies for that one project (usually enough to make several of them) and by the time I get to them I wonder why I was ever interested. And usually I'm doing more than one thing at a time.



My partner and I have a booth at the local antique/shopping mall. We also participate in several craft fair events throughout the year. We started out with jewelry. I do have a full time job. I have to pay for my hobbies somehow. I find myself sitting at my desk, staring out the window and imagining creating full time. If only it would pay the bills.

Tea Cup Candles

Project of the moment - tea cup candles. I made a few of these for craft fairs, and have sold some in our space at the mall. Now I get requests. So I got out all the supplies and spent Friday evening pouring candles. As usual nothing goes without a hitch. I didn't like the appearance of 5 of the candles, so I popped them in the freezer and then popped the wax block out of the cup, and spent a good portion of the morning remelting and remoulding. Then I attached the saucer to the cup, and tied a ribbon around each one. the very first time I made these and tied a ribbon around them my daughter said to me that I should make sure customers know to remove the ribbon from the cup before they lite the candle. She was right. That will be the finishing touch on this batch of candles. I also had a couple of cups without saucers and was thinking perhaps I would go to the goodwill store to see if I could find a couple of saucers. Then it occured to me - I have an entire booth full of bowls, saucers, glasswhere, jewelry cards (you get the picture). A quick trip to the store and I had a few of my individual saucers to help finish up the project.
Maybe tomorrow I will finish the quilt blocks and work on the baby quilt I am making. Maybe.