Parents, a Baby, and James

Look at these gorgeous irises! Guess "who" they are.... they are the parents of the one flowering stalk that I have in my yard. Maybe some day I'll have a large swath of purple spreading across my yard, too, so that I can spare this many to take to the office! Ooooh lala, the thought makes me smile.



And here is a sweet baby... taking a nap under a little fleece blankie that will eventually make its way to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Shhhh! Don't wake up the baby! (Just now when I wrote that, I remembered that my daughter as a toddler used to say this: "shhh! baby ky-ing!" Meaning, "shhh, baby is sleeping!" Isn't that cute??)



Do you like James Taylor? I have always loved him! He burst upon the scene when I was in college, and I instantly loved his music. Today I bought myself this CD:



Hey, I heard James has a son who has a CD out... and is as good as (better than?) his dad!! Way cool!

Quilting Blues

I had this nice, long weekend and not much stuff I absolutely had to do... so one would think I would have plunged into a bunch of quilting projects. I didn't, though. I'm in one of my quilting slumps. This happens every now and then.

I made these blocks for a challenge at Sunshine. I was so uninspired, and you can tell. I didn't make anything very spectacular. In fact, some of them are downright ugly. They'll probably be OK along with the others that get turned in. That's my hope. (The challenge fabric was the Halloween jack-o-lanterns, and the postcard is for the challenge organizer.)



I managed to get the borders put on this top and get it quilted and bound. That's all the quilting I did all weekend! Recognize the parts in this quilt? It started out as Bonnie's Crossroads to Carolina... but this is the farthest I got. So what should I call it now? Gravel Road to Nowhere? :-) Here it is quilted, but not yet bound.



I go the binding on just before total dark.


Son and his GF came over tonight to use my sewing machine. They needed to hem these pretty rainbow fabrics that will be used as room dividers. It was fun to see them and to help them with their project. Son is going to Greece in a couple of days! Please cross your fingers for a safe and happy trip, and for me not to worry while he's gone!



P.S. I updated my blog, and in the process I once again lost my Mavericks ring code and some other links. I hope I can figure out how to reinstate them (again) soon.

God's Laughter

Have you ever heard that saying, that flowers are God's way of laughing? I'm enjoying God's laughter these days. I don't have an award-winning yard by any means (unless it's the "ugliest yard on the block" award). But I do have a few flowering gems here and there which I will share with you today.

Here is the first iris to bloom in my yard! The first two, actually. Yesterday I had one blossom, and today I have two! I got these extras from a co-worker and planted them last year. (I know, I planted them way too close together.) I'm thrilled that one stalk, at least, is blooming.






Then I have some "stuff" around the edge of our yard. Our side and back yards are wild and woodsy. At some point, though, whoever owned this land apparently thought it should start to be domesticated, and planted these honeysuckle and lilac bushes. They struggle along, trying to get enough sun among the shade of the trees, and do pretty well for living here in the wild territory!






This is the extent of my garden. It's about all I can handle. I do NOT have natural gardening instincts. In August I will post another picture so you can see how these flowers grow and spread. They usually fill the barrel.



Here's my garden #2. I like 'em small!



This is supposed to be a hanging plant, but it's so huge and heavy. The spot where we have a hook is exactly where people's heads happen by when they come to our front door. I didn't want visitors getting klunked in the head, so the plant sits here on a small chair. Isn't it luscious?



And finally, the last of the flowers... these "lovely" volunteers. I bet some of my readers have these pretty little gifts in your yard, too! Hahahaha (is that God I hear laughing?)

Follow These Blogs

Fun things to watch: Check out the Giveaway here, and watch the Robin Family grow here, not to mention her coming-soon fabric choices inspired by the robins.

Small is Beautiful

I've always loved small things... here is a cute little iron I recently bought. It works fine, but the cord gets in the way, and sometimes it falls out. So I don't use it often.



Today we bought a new car! Small, of course. I love it! It's my little blue jelly bean.



And here is a small bit of fun that my dd and I had today. Son was trying on clothes, and while we waited in an adjoining dressing room, we had to monkey around to keep ourselves entertained.

It was a beautiful day again today! Hope you all are enjoying a lovely Memorial Day weekend!

Across From the Green Stairs

The stair removal was completed very quickly! It was interesting to watch. Now that the stairs are gone, you'd never know they were once there! We used to tell people our office was "across the street from the green stairs." It was a recognizable landmark that almost everyone knew. Will "across the street from where the stairs used to be" work? Here's a photo essay: the Removal of the Stairs, along with two views of lovely flowering trees. Our weather continues to be gorgeous!

Top unit was removed and rested on the street


They swung it across the street...


..then set it down on this flatbed truck,


made sure it was firmly attached


then drove it away.


This is where Santa Claus works during his off season.


It was a tight fit through the parking lot!





They made it through!


Then, to push the truck back into place, they called on a Real Woman!





**amazing color!**

Summer is Coming!

Today was a PERFECT, absolutely gorgeous day... blue skies, sun, pleasant temperatures, not hot, not cold! Whee! Hallelujah! Big, big smiles. A day like today is worth celebrating! It'll be like this tomorrow, too. Maybe I'll find some time to get out for a nice walk and get some pictures of the spring flowering trees. Everything is late this year because it has been so cool. Trees are just now at their glorious peak.



Does summer make you think of ice cream? Well.. I should admit that this photo was taken in the middle of the winter. But summer is, if nothing else, a good excuse to think about (and EAT) ice cream. When hubby and I go out on a (rare) date, at the end of the evening we like to stop at our neighborhood McDonald's and get these twist cones. It is one of the last holdouts that still offers chocolate ice cream, and twist cones are just a lucious and yummy treat that we both love after a night out.

I haven't done a lot of sewing lately, but I'm slowly working on these HSTs. I saved them over a long period of time. Most of them were made as "bonus" HSTs when making other, flip & sew blocks. I really didn't know how many I had, and was pleased to see that I had enough to make a good start on a nice, scrappy quilt. Stay turned to see how this one evolves.



And here's some excitement happening outside my office window. These stairs have been a fixture in my city for many years. The view from the top is really cool. Adults have memories of playing on these as kids, and others have memories of walking up and down for exercise. A few of us from my office have done that, although not recently. Well, now the stairs are coming down due to boulder damage to the supports. They are no longer safe. And who knows when they'll be replaced? I heard the word "million" in the estimated replacement cost. So.. I'm guessing it'll be a good chunk of time 'til that happens. I'll be watching this process for the next couple of days. If it gets interesting I'll share more photos.

You've Got Mail

Hubby installed our new, locking mailbox. Oh, the thrills and chills around here! And yes, our lawn is that splotchy. We have poor quality soil, and those bare spots are where the creeping charlie used to be. We are going to get a visit from a landscaper, get an estimate, and maybe one of these days we won't have the ugliest yard in the neighborhood! Yippee!!



Here's another orphan top I finished assembling this weekend. I'm actually running low on orphan blocks, finally! Another yippee!



And my third Yippee for the day is, I LOVED today's weather. It was beautiful and sunny all day, and not hot. Other people are complaining that it has not warmed up as much as usual for mid-May, but I am loving it! The cool touch in the air this morning reminded me of the summer I spent in the mountains of Montana. Glorious!! I'd be happy if that hot, humid stuff just never bothered to show up at all this year. Think I could be so lucky?

I'm Sorry, Woody!

Today at work I had to drive somewhere halfway through the day. I thought while I was out I might as well buy myself some lunch. I went out to the parking lot, got into my car, took some time to adjust my stuff, a CD, etc... there would have been time for Woody to escape!

He must have been sitting near my tire, resting in the shade. I love to do that, too (but, luckily, I choose not to do it under a car). Well, you can guess where this is going. When I backed out of my parking spot, I ran over Woody!

I felt just terrible. I lost my appetite and felt so sad!!! I never did buy anything for lunch. When I came back to the parking lot, I had to park in a whole different area, because I couldn't stand the thought of looking at a Dead Woody. Poor little guy!

Meetings

This is another of those weeks where I have something to do every night except Friday. Because of that it has been really hard to find energy and time to do much other than work and meetings.

So there is nothing new in the quilty front. And my house needs attention, and I haven't planted my flowers yet.

So goes my exciting life. The good news is, the weather has been perfectly gorgeous!

This is slippers a friend of mine knit and sent to Wrap Them in Love. She's a generous and a speedy knitter (and very talented)!

Happy Mom's Day!

Yesterday I had a lazy day. It was rainy and dreary (and cold) here, which didn't help the energy level. I did a little cleaning/organizing, a little sewing, a little staring into space.

Surprisingly, I did manage to start and complete an entire quilt, from design to binding, all in one lazy day! Here it is.



Oh... it only measures 8" x 10" which is why I could get it done in one day. And, to be honest, it isn't completely done. The flower and the clothespins that fell to the ground are not yet attached.

Have a fun Mother's Day! I am going to see Daughter today (Son is studying for finals) and probably have another somewhat lazy day. Perfect!

Where Did Time Go?

Wow, this week just flew by! I'm shocked (and quite delighted) that it is already Friday evening! Wheeee! A whole weekend to look forward to.

We started off the weekend just right by having dinner with our daughter. Do you think little Daughter can eat this whole rack of ribs?? I took this picture just to tease; she shared this large plateful of food with her ol' Pa.



We briefly visited at Son's house. His roommate has this little dog that RUNS to visitors and is so hyper-excited, that she is usually just a blur - impossible to photograph. It was a shock that the dog calmed down enough to get these pictures of her sitting still. She actually seemed to be posing. This was the first time Daughter and I have been able to hold her and just have a calm little greeting.





Look at this: evidence that it is really spring here in Minnesota! I just love these little violets that pop up in yards. When I was a kid I used to wish we could plant a whole garden full of them. Technically, I suppose, in the middle of a yard they are considered "weeds," but they sure are pretty!



A group of us from my church will go to Rosebud Reservation this coming summer. I designed our T-shirts, and picked them up today. I must say I am quite pleased with how they turned out. We had them done for a bargain price at a local high school that has a graphic arts production room. They did a super job on these shirts. I should have paid extra!



And here is my nod to quilting: recently I got back into the mood to make postcards, and came up with these two not-very-exciting-but-fun-to-make examples.

Full Weekend

Both my tummy and my heart are full after a full weekend. One thing I accomplished, which was completely unplanned, was make this teddy bear quilt top. The pattern is from quilterscache dot com. I still plan to add some borders.



I knew I eventually wanted to make a teddy bear quilt for my great-nephew; I just didn't know when I would do it. Somehow the planets were aligned just right, and the teddy bear quilt is what came out of my fingertips this weekend.

Today my son sang in his college spring choir concert, the final concert of the year. He is a junior, so it wasn't his final final. Next year will be a more poignant concert for him and us. He wasn't supposed to sing in this one...this week he was diagnosed with acute bacterial epiglottitis (an infected epiglottis). He was given five medications and told NOT to sing in the concert. However, the meds really did the trick, and he feels MUCH better, so he went ahead and sang. The concert was fabulous. They can really make some beautiful sounds and they sing in a performance hall that has such lovely acoustics. It gives a person shivers! (And makes a mommy proud.)

After the concert we went out for dinner. It was my wish for Mother's Day (a week early) to do this along with E's family (our son's girlfriend). We had not met E's parents before. They are friendly and funny and a pleasure to spend the evening with.

Here we are outside the restaurant (please ignore the unflattering setting sunlight).



And here is E's family in the same spot. The great height difference here is because 3 of the 4 are standing up on a step. E's mom really isn't that much shorter than everyone else.



We stopped briefly at our son's house. They really should put a screen on this window to keep out the squirrels and birds! It was such a beautiful day, I guess they just couldn't resist having this window all the way open. Son and his very nice friends all live together in this house and are dream renters for the landlord.



It always makes me happy to spend time with my children; they have turned into such great adults! I'm one lucky lady, with my full tummy and my full heart.

Letting Time Pass Me By

I totally forgot that I was supposed to do the book drawing on May 1st! That is, I couldn't believe that it was already May 1 in the calendar and I thought it was quite some time into the future. So... today is May 2nd, and I just did the drawing for the free book, and .... the winner is......... Jeanne! She is getting a nice book with a very happy note from Ann Zemke written on the front page. Happy reading, Jeanne! Send me your address, and I'll get it right off to you.

The above photo is just a random moon shot I took a year or two ago.