To fast or not to fast…

I have a ton of medical issues yet when challenged to observe the Daniel Fast with my church for 21 days,  I spent a few days in prayer and decided to try. As long as I watch for weight loss and listen to my body I should be able to do it. Then I started reading recipes…  Holy cow! No butter? Yes, that was the one thing that struck me.  I do love my butter and I don’t mean margerine!

So far the “what do I eat for breakfast today” is stumping me. I found a few recipes and will be in better prepared tomorrow. Boy, I should have been better prepared today! My husband has gone to the store with my carefully prepared hurriedly scribbled list. So I sit in contemplation of my meal preparations later today.

I’m also fasting from time wasting activities. It’s amazing how many things simply waste time.

First recipes:

• Date honey recipe
• Daniel Fast Apple Steel Cut Oat Muffins

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So much life has happened, I can’t even wrap my head around it all most days. But I’m returning to my main loves (writing and quilting) with a few others thrown in for good measure.

I’ve missed being here and sharing the threads of my life. Have you noticed after finishing a quilt how many pieces of thread are literally everywhere? For weeks I find pieces in every room of the house and somehow also in the car! I finished working on a memory quilt my daughter and I made together for her in-laws. We used gold embroidery thread. Now that’s a blog unto itself! I’ve got serious opinions about metallic threads now! But before I go off on a tangent.

Long story short.. #1 son and wife now have two sons, #2 son has two daughters, #3 son served five very long years in the Marine Corps and in eight days is going into the Army as a Sargent, and my baby girl met and married the love of her life and three months ago had a son. My Father, Sister in law and Mother died.  We sold our home in Florida and moved to the mountains in North Carolina. Of course that leaves a lot out but I’m sure I’ll cover it in time.

Oh yes, there have been quilts and new sewing machines and new old sewing machines. I also learned to crochet. And fell in love with tunisian crochet.

So many threads woven so beautifully into the tapestry that is my life. New threads added and some old ones no longer…

Still stitching…

So here it is.. the top and back are ready.. still waiting for a name!

I’ve also still been hard at work making pebbles. As you can see I still need a lot of practice!!I’m trying to make sure the pebbles aren’t all the same size but some are coming out oval instead of round..  Oh well.. maybe I did that on purpose? HAH!

Yesterday was full of cooking instead of quilting. I made three gallons of spaghetti sauce and four gallons of Chili. I freeze it in one gallon increments so it’s ready for the days I don’t want to or can’t cook.  I should have made more spaghetti sauce but didn’t have enough italian sausage.  

My grand dog made it through his neutering and it has been close to impossible to keep him calm since coming home. He wants to play! It makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it! One more day in the life.. My zucchini is blooming and so are the green beans.. I’m eating strawberries as fast as they ripen and snack on radishes as I weed the rows.  The yard cats have killed two of my tomato plants or at least I think it’s them.. I’ll set a trap to find out tonight! They broke the top of the plants off! I may have to look into putting naphtha out there but I’d rather not .(It stinks!)

Hoping this finds you getting through your days with pockets of joy found in places that surprise you!

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There ya go..

We got all the title and registration paper work done and a new set of tires for the new car so DD is one Happy Camper! Of course she owes us slave services for the next six months but now she’s happy with that. We’ll see in a few months if she’s still as happy.

I’m hopeful I can return to the quilting room today though I’m not holding out too much hope. It could happen! I decided on the puppy quilt. I hope my Duetta gets here before I’m ready to quilt so I can get the embroidery done.. the only problem I see encountering is that the new puppy has no name yet! #1 doesn’t name his dogs until he’s been with them for a day. 

Here’s our adopted boy we got in January. He’s eight pounds of love! Harry brings us back up to four dogs in the house. He’s got a way to go though.. he wants to eat the chickens! He’s half their size! On Harry’s first day here #3 son heard my screams and came running  .. Harry got into the chicken run I was trying to catch him..but #3 couldn’t help because he was laughing so hard.. I thought the chickens were going to eat him!! I was frantic! (okay, it was a funny sight)

I got a vet appointment in an hour.. my GrandDog Moomie has Addison’s and has to get an injection once a month. Today I get to learn how to give the injection.. doesn’t that sound like fun? I gave myself injections for three years so it shouldn’t be too hard.

Starting my day.. hope yours is full of  happy surprises!

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GOOD Morning!

Yesterday was not a very productive day for me personally.. DH and I found a new (previously owed) car for DD and we drove the hour there to see it then a half hour testing etc. ..yada yada.. bought the car and came home. All the searching came after I sold her truck yesterday morning. Home by 5:30 pm and got dinner on the table by 6 pm.

Somehow I did fit a trip to the fabric store in the middle of all that! I didn’t have the right purple for my grand puppy’s quilt!  At the cutting table the salesperson asked what I planned for the fabric and I told her I was expecting a grand baby. She was excited for me! DH had come in with me (whether to hurry me along or to see what I was spending, it’s hard to say) But he had to correct me and tell her it wasn’t a baby it was a puppy. I don’t think he gets it.  This is practice for when there are babies! See, I knew y’all would get it!

Now all I gotta do is pick a pattern.. So far I’m looking at these two.

I’d like the middle available to embroider her name but I can do that on the border.

Today there won’t be much accomplished as it is errand day. Hoping y’all find pockets of joy throughout the day!

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Four Months!

I finally finished the Diamond quilt and it only took four MONTHS! It’s hard to believe it took that long. But it’s finished and I’ll get it shipped off tomorrow. I also got out the Batik Bubbles quilt top and finished sewing all those bubbles and I got the backing ready (shhhh… don’t tell anyone but I prewashed it, I am against prewashing as a rule but I don’t want that much shrinkage after the quilting on this one) and it is all ready to go on the quilting table! Yeah for me!! If all goes well I will be thread painting today!

I am getting a new Grand-puppy in two weeks! Yeah (again) for me! I was told her favorite color is purple so I have two weeks to make her a quilt. What kind of grand would I be if I didn’t have a quilt ready for her when she gets here? Right??

Later today I’ll get pictures of the finished Blues’ quilt and hopefully the Batik Bubbles on the quilting table.. My batteries won’t hold a charge! ARGH! So I’ll “borrow” DD’s new camera or use my tablet.

It’s not so pretty out today.. the temp dropped to 55 this morning and the winds are about 10mph.. it looks like I’m gonna have to find some frost cover for the garden. What is up with the weather this year?? Come on this is Florida! It’s unheard of having this kind of weather in March!

I’m going back to the quilt room… hope you have lots of “Yeah for me” moments today!

 

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So many events…

Image via Wikipedia

The last six months have flown by.. I’m disappointed I haven’t been able to keep y’all up to date.

Loads of drama, but that’s not anything new really.

In a nutshell here’s the highlights..

• We finished the body work on DD’s truck and DH got it painted. It turned out very pretty but now she wants a little sports car. I think DH may have had a hand in that decision.
• #1 son starts his last year of College next month and should be back from teaching in Wisconsin in three weeks. He may have a job lined up in Tampa.
• DIL got a job in Atlanta and will be gone next week. So it looks like they will continue their long distance marriage for at least another year! ARGH! (hard to get grand kids that way!)
• # 2 son has a new girl in his life and she is a doll! Smart, funny and she tolerates him! What more could a Mom ask for? (it helps that he’s smart and funny too!)
• My mom is being divorced. Can you say ugly all day? It has been a crushing experience for her and watching it has been devastating for me. I don’t know if she will come out of this.
• #3 son signed with the Marines! Yes, I said the Marines! I have some very not nice words for the Navy recruiters here. All they wanted to talk about were video games.. uh, HELLO? Seriously? He tells them he wants to sign up and they talk video games? After taking the ASVAB and scoring quite well he just wanted to “talk” to the Marines.. yes, that is what he said. I know he wanted to sign with them when this started but I wanted Navy. So there ya go… I am a mother of a Marine! Pray for me! He leaves October 6th.
• I am just now putting the binding on that diamond quilt I am making for my niece. Yep I’m still working on that quilt and no I didn’t set it aside to make anything else.
• The garden is growing nicely after planting it the second time. We had a hard freeze the second week of February and there was no saving it. I spend at least an hour a day just watching it grow.
• We finished the upstairs bathroom. It turned out nice. We got the tile and cabinet in last month. Of course now that we’re close to finishing the big projects around here we’re talking about moving.. where depends on whether there are grands in the making…

So there ya go.. I’ve already missed two quilt shows.. I’m hoping that life settles down soon so I can get back into the quilt room. I think I may have settled the tension problem I was having with my longarm. It turns out it wasn’t me!  When I moved it got knocked out of whack! !  Yesterday I traded the Babylock Ellegante in for a Duetta.. so there’s a new machine to play with. Oh and it looks like I have a grand puppy coming soon! So you know I have to make her a quilt!

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Vegetable Garden time!

As y’all can tell I enlarged the garden this year.  The way I figure it is there’s less to mow that way! It’s about 20′ X 70′. I also used landscape fabric to help with the weeds and help retain moisture. Loads of chicken poop went in before the tilling. But I don’t think I used enough for the plot.

I kinda got over excited when the Tractor Dude came with his behemoth. Even though I was a bit scared he would unearth something I didn’t want to see. This is a very rural area and we have found weird things buried here and there.  We still can’t find our septic! So when he hit one low area and a shirt pants and pair of shoes came up wrapped in a roll of carpet, I really freaked! It turned out to be a pile of clothing wrapped in a roll of carpet. Who does that?? seriously? I don’t want this outfit any longer so I’m gonna bury it in a carpet in the side yard?

I’ve still got some work to do to build a compost pile. My mom has come over to help with the clearing and such. It’s actually been a treat having her there to tell stories and talk while we work. She is NOT used to manual labor at all. But even she is getting excited about having a garden. So far we have corn, the 1st batch of cucumbers , green beans, strawberries, tomatoes and green peppers, watermelon, zucchini, radishes and lettuce… I still have to get some okra seeds. I’m planting in steps so I’ve still got a way to go.

Today we’re laying tile in the upstairs bathroom (I know that still isn’t finished?). Guess what, the tile is laid and I’m off to grout!! Aren’t you impressed? Of course I didn’t get this posted yesterday cuz I wasn’t waiting to upload the pictures.. so tomorrow you’ll see the tile finished!

 This is meant to be my year for finishing projects. No new projects until all the old ones are finished! Hey, a girl can dream!

I’ve missed you!

So much has happened in the last month.. yet it wasn’t the same without sharing it!

I’ve spent lots of time with my mother. #3 Son has done his timed trials to enter the Navy and has actually surprised us all at his ease to hit the numbers! #1 Son has  spent months away working in Wisconsin. My #2 Granddog died suddenly and the took so much out of the holidays for #1 Son. She was his alter ego .. his shadow and is still missed terribly.

#2 Son came to visit for a few days and helped Dad ready the garage for painting Bess’s truck.

I didn’t get much sewing or quilting done. I did however finally get that diamond quilt onto the quilting table. BUT..( it’s there always a but?) My Lizzie malfunctioned and I had to tear into her and figure out the mess. I think I may have got her fixed I just haven’t had the time to get back to her.

 I made my brother and SIL custom aprons for their restaurant and they actually liked them! I may end up making them some shirts next. Or I should say embroidery their Logo onto shirts..

I got my garden in (finally) and it is big! I’ve got the first bunch of veggies in and about 50 stawberry plants too!

 

 

 

Well, I guess that’s it in a nutshell.. I’ll get into the details later but rest assured I won’t stay gone for very long anymore! Hugs!

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Who knew?

Sewing the rows took a lot longer than I thought! Of course it’s so big I had to lay it out on the floor and sewing diamonds is a little trickier than blocks. OY VEY! So it’s not perfect but then none of the quilts I make are anywhere close to perfect so that makes it just right!

Squaring it up and attaching the borders are next. I’m trying to make sure it’s not done by Christmas.. it’s not a Christmas present.. it’s a replacement quilt for the one I had already given my niece that wasn’t my best effort.

I really like the look of it.. and I think the borders will set it off nicely.  I’ve decided on an all over quilting pattern. But as yet I haven’t decided which one.. any ideas for me? Next time I won’t make one quite so big! It will end up to be a queen/ full size!

What’s next you ask? Well since I finished painting the dining room I am clear until Christmas! I got my Ellegante two days ago and have played with it.. loads of fun but yes a bit of a learning curve! Looks like I will be making the Christmas tree skirt after all!

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