A million steps....

Any time I see a railroad, I have a yearning to walk it....and the view above, well almost the view above....I have looked at hundreds of times as I walked home from school. As have all my brothers and sisters. The biggest part of our walk home from school was on these tracks. Our grade school was a block or two from these tracks, and when we went to high school, we still had to walk down to Arthur to catch the bus.

Now, for me, I never had near the distance my brothers and sisters walked...I don't think I had a mile walk...maybe 3/4's of a mile, but I bet the walk for my brothers and sisters, was at least two miles before we moved from the old home place to the new house. They had a path through weeds...so I just know their feet had to start the day out wet. And if it rained too much, they could not get across the creek....

This is the new and updated railroad...when we walked it, it was not rock, but cinders, etc that filled in between the ties. I suppose there is a name for that, but I don't know what it is, unless it would be called the bed of the tracks. My socks always had coal dust in the wrinkles...it was a coal train that went up and down this track. It went up it once, and back down. No more, no less. Maybe every now and then there was something extra....and in the summer, they had a steam engine that gave people rides up to Cumberland Gap, maybe on to Middlesboro, KY, and back to Knoxville. Just one trip a summer. None of us ever got to take it...I don't even know if anyone else wanted to.

One of the things we sometimes did was try to walk the rail home without falling off. I don't know about everyone else, but I know I never quite accomplished that feat. I made it once or twice with only falling off once or twice...but I know that was the best I ever did. It is amazing that some of us did not get hurt...

The other thing, the railroad sat above the surrounding land for the most part...and the banks grew thick with bushes, briars, and honeysuckle to name a few. So thick one could not pass through them. So, you had to beware and listen for the train, and head to the nearest path down. Sometimes we had to hurry, and just wait, but if we were lucky, it was at a place that the path went down to a field and we could continue walking.

Only one time was there ever a close call for me. It was cold and windy...I had my hood up and my head down...not even looking up. I was by myself, and the train tooted. I swear, I don't think it was much over the length of a city block away. I don't mind telling you my heart jumped into my throat....if it had not tooted, I would never have heard it. Luckily, I was right at the train trestle and could get off by it.

We also walked down the railroad to go to the store and to the post office in summer, and we walked the railroad on up past our home to go to the barn (not far away), or if we wanted to go up to the old place, or to the tobacco patches. You'd see us walking down the road, with a hoe over our shoulder.

When we go home, I know Neal and I always walk the railroad...either to get up to the old place or down to Arthur.

Anyway, I bet our family has easily taken a million steps on those tracks that ran by home.

Sometimes when I am drifting off to sleep, I will hear a train blow its horn here...and just for a moment I am back in bed at home. It has to be the right tone, and sometimes I think it has to be a certain type of weather for it to be the right tone to make me think I am home again. But just FYI, I have never lived where I could not hear a train, and most of the time within sight of the tracks.

Us and the one family of neighbors, it is a common last name, but I won't say it...anyway, besides us, they are the only ones I ever remember really using the railroads a lot. Now, I suppose you would be fined if they caught you walking on them up here. And that because if someone got hurt, they would probably sue the railroad. I often see No Trespassing signs, but that is usually by overpasses. I have not noticed them at home, but maybe it is cause I haven't been paying attention.

Yard art at its finest...almost real

If we have passed these once, we have passed them at least a hundred times over the years, probably more if truth be told. They are passed when coming in the back way to Mansfield, Indiana. When coming, you come around the bend and the view above is what you see. Even though I know they are not real, my heart still flutters about half the time thinking just for a second that they are alive.
Then you go on around the curve, and here is what you see. These were just quick snaps cause there is no place to pull off the road and it is curvy right there...so I took what I could get!
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I feel like I have been busy all day yet look back and don't feel like I accomplished much at all. I did laundry...I swear there is someone that comes and wears our clothes for us. I am always amazed at the amount of laundry I do. Yet, when I really think about it, I think I only did one load all last week. So, maybe I am not doing as bad as I think I do. The two loads did today did not leave enough to do another load of everything left combined.

I also replaced a pocket in a pair of shorts. Let me tell you, I am glad no one sees the pocket...it is definitely not your finest looking pocket, but the best I could do with the pair of shorts. They were a pair of Roger's old work shorts with an elastic in the waist and I was not about to undo all that sewing when elastic was involved. I did do some ripping, and then cut the pocket off at the top and replaced it.

And while I was down there I cut the sashing for my baby quilt which I have not touched since I posted a pic of the finished blocks sometime last week. Later I went back and almost got the whole thing sewn together. Just a few more long lines of sewing and the top will be almost totally done.

That has about been the sum of my day--tomorrow I am going to Sarah's for a while.

Butterfly blues

Yesterday, before Lorelei and Sarah came over, we took a little drive. We wanted to check out Big Raccoon Creek...it was up much to much to fish. So, we headed home--through the country of course. Along this one stretch of road, there were all these butterflies.
I don't know why, but they were not flighty at all...maybe these were blooms at just the right stage. Whatever the reason, they tried to stay put.
But it was so windy, they had a hard time. Which resulted in many missed shots for me. About the time I was read to squeeze off a shot off, the wind would blow the bloom/butterflies sometimes completely out of the picture. Sometimes, just enough till they were nothing but a blur. And part of the time, the wind was whipping their wings...they were doing like a flag rippling in the wind.

I did get two or three fairly good photos of them that I will be showing later on my other blog, but for right now I thought I would show these for now.

Chew Mail Pouch

This is another drive-by shot of a Mail Pouch barn, taken the other day on our quest to try out our GPS. It is not the greatest shot, but I always like these barns. There is a nice little article about them here....and at the bottom of that page is this link to lots of great photos of Mail Pouch barns.

Then there is the photo below, taken the same day as the above. Again we are moving.
And this one is not even the quality of the above but it is the one that calls to my heart. It makes me feel like I could be looking at an East Tennessee farm...it just has that feel for me. All the time we were down in the southern part of the state, I kept thinking we might eventually spot a patch of tobacco. But that was not the case....

It really doesn't take much to make me think of Tennessee...I guess it will always hold first place in my heart. We were talking today about when we lived down there, we lived in this little house, which would be a shack to most people, but home to us. The side of the hill had actually been dug away, cut out...whatever you want to call it to make room for part of the kitchen. As I think about it now, I bet that part was added later after the original house was built. But it was there as long back as I can remember.

The back door opened off it, and even though we had no air conditioning, in the hottest of summertime days we opened one window in our bedroom, and opened the back door and the house cooled right out...allowing us to sleep just fine. I guess to be fair, I will tell you the sun did not fully hit the place till later in the morn, and our house was in the shade fairly early. So the surrounding area did not have the time to build and hold the heat.

Even though the house burned down sometime back, that place will always hold a special place in our heart. I honestly think it is my favorite place on earth.

Church in a small Indiana town

This first photo is just a cropped section of the photo below before it was scaled down...I have no idea what those things on the corners are. This was a drive-by shot so no chance to take a good look at it. I don't know if it is still in use or not.
The lawn looks as if someone takes care of it...but otherwise it looks lonesome to me.
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I saw the following on another blog, and someone had sent it to her in an email....I told her I just had to put it in one of my posts, but forgot till today. This made me laugh out loud....

With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good grief, look how smart I am!".

When I read it to Roger, I told him I must be a genius!

First adventure with GPS driving....

This is a church we passed on our drive today...a drive-by shot through the windshield...not too bad. But the one I got when we were closer had all these reflections and lens flare...so this one is the one I am stuck showing you. I think it still gives an idea of how big and beautiful it is. I did not notice the crosses in the roof till I looked I looked at these photos.
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Our GPS came the other day...today was the first opportunity we have had to try it out. I wanted to head north, but checked the weather up that way. There was a big storm on the way to the area I wanted to go....so quickly chose a destination to the south. We didn't follow The Voice's directions exactly....we wanted to go a more indirect route.

We had fun imagining what The Voice was thinking...we could almost hear the disgust in The Voice each time we Did Not make the turn she suggested...she would say 'recalculating'...Roger asked if I thought she realized it was a man driving and if she realized he was hardheaded.

I told him I was going to do a post and title it: A GPS, we are still taking the scenic route! We have sure taken some in our travels, but I don't think any have been quite as bad as a friend. I don't remember the car they were driving at the time, but one time they ended up on a road and the only other vehicles were jeeps and 4-wheel drive trucks!

Then there is the song One Headlight by the Wallflowers...we neither one can hear it without thinking of the time that we only had this old, old station wagon. I think we only had our older daughter, but I am not sure. We were on our way home from Terre Haute, and we would hit a pothole and the lights would go out...hit another one and they were back on!

I was scared of course, though there must have been moonlight because I can still remember we could see the road...but I got tickled. And started laughing...and Roger was shall we say frustrated...and he asked me if I could hush which made it that much more funny. I did tell him it was either laugh or cry....and that was the truth. We made it home safely, and without being seen by the police. So any time you hear the song, or even hear the term headlight, think of us.

Another time, for a second vehicle Roger got this old, old truck. Guess what...coming up Highway 63 one night, the lights started the same thing...drive a few hundred feet and they would turn off. Wait a little bit and they would blink back on....that time he cut over to the river road and drove home. Much darker that night...no street lights or not many houses to light the way.

And on the subject of cars, I think our Rav4 might be the only car we have had that didn't have a flat tire within about a month of getting it...even when they were brand new cars. And almost all have had a rock fly up and chip the front windshield.

A bit slow in blogging...

I just cannot seem to get with the program....the trouble is not so much finding something to blog about as it is just getting it done. I wanted to show the blocks I am working on for a baby quilt...I have enough blocks made. And I actually picked out the fabric I want to use for the sashing but I haven't gotten it cut yet.
I am not sure how much like a baby quilt it will look, but it will still be fairly bright and cheerful and big enough to lay in the floor for a baby to lay on when it is first starting to roll around. And Lorelei liked laying on hers just to look around.

BTW, the bits of paper you see folded over on each block tells me where in the quilt that block belongs. I don't want two lions side by side, nor two monkeys, etc. Though it really wouldn't matter a lot because they are different views of the animals.
The fabric above is my latest acquisition...I bought it to make pajamas. I love just plain old cotton pj's, but could probably buy them cheaper than I make them...even with the good deals I get on fabric at Thousands of Bolts. I make them, though, for the sheer pleasure of sewing and finishing a project in one evening. Also, with these, I will have the scraps left over and can use them in quilts!

Then there is the other two pieces of fabric below...I bought them at the same time as I bought the above. The first piece, I loved, and if I had known it was as nice as it is, I would have bought more. But it is a brand of fabric that I have had some issues with...it being so thin I could see through. I did not want to buy much of it since I could not examine it.
The second piece is a reproduction piece will work well with all my Civil War fabrics I am collecting. Roger loves them, so I will be making another quilt for us sometime in the future.

B=Busy, Beautiful blooms, Bumblebee, ladyBug...

I was just going to post the photo below, but realized I just couldn't post one without the other...it makes for a good title with both.
Last night I could not go to sleep...I tried to go to bed around 2:30 a.m. but all I did was toss and turn, so I got up and read a while, which usually will relax me enough to fall asleep easily. Not last night. I finally put in a PBS Inspector Morse Mystery and that did the trick...I watched about 30 or 40 minutes and was having a hard time holding my eyes open...so turned it off....realized it was the beginning of daylight, but I went on to bed anyway.

So my day has had a late start...I hung a load of clothes out about an hour ago, but it is so hot they will be dry in no time. The only reason they won't be dry in an hour or so is the humidity. It is horribly humid today. Our thermometer says it is 88º...feels hotter than that.

While waiting on the load of clothes, I sewed on some quilt blocks....I know I haven't quilted my Chantelle Tulips yet, but I felt the need to start a baby quilt so the next time someone close has a baby, I will have one prepared. I am trying to make it start to finish from fabrics I have on hand...so far that part is going well. It is just something simple...also not going to make it quite as big as I used to make all baby quilts.

So, it is back to the sewing machine for me...I think. I am so tempted to take a nap, but would feel guilty if I did. Roger is working in his shop....not sure what the cats are doing. I haven't heard from Sarah, but will contact her later...we have plans to see her and Jeremy tomorrow.

Wish me luck in the sewing department....

One of the things I wonder about...

I always wonder why a house has two doors right beside each other...I have never tried to google that to see if there is a reason. Was it a house built for two families? I don't think so...almost all I see with the two doors side by side are small houses. Most of the times they are just big enough for a small family.
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Lorelei has been here quite a bit this week. She is growing and changing so fast. She has bumped her head a time or two on our table...and it does hurt. There is no doubt about it. But after one of the first times of doing it, a little bit later she dropped something and bent over to pick it up. After she picked it up, she laid her head against the corner of the table, and started to pretend to cry. It was so funny!

That first time was a week or two ago...well, yesterday she started to doing it again. She did it two or three times. I am not sure if she does it to get sympathy or laughter...because it always gets a laugh from us.

I have a really small vacuum...more or less a dust-buster...it is a small upright, but you can take off the vacuum just like Dustbuster. That tells you how small it is...Lorelei has discovered it and loves to get it out and push it all around the house.

And sometimes here with her papaw or at home with her dad, she will go to yell for one of them and out comes 'Dad-Paw!' She definitely loves her dad and papaw....she loves for Roger to chase her through the house. There is just something about her papaw that she wants all his attention.

She has learned to jump now, and has been shaking her head no and nodding it up and down, though the up and down is not quite as easy as shaking her head no. Her dad was showing her how to turn a flip and she is trying...it is so cute to watch.

When her dad is home for her bedtime, he has to go give her the ET touch two or three times before she will settle down and go to sleep...

A church, I assume

On the way home, the other day we came to a four-way stop...thank goodness for that. I probably wouldn't have got this photograph if it hadn't. And it was not a place to stop and back up. I snapped this one and one other...but I so would like to go back and look at it again. Click and enlarge it to see it better.

I would love to know just how old it is and the history...I even wondered had it been a school. I tend to think it was a church because of the windows but whatever it was, I bet it would have tons of stories to tell if the walls could talk. Look at that tin roof...can you imagine a preacher trying to deliver his sermon with a hard rain or hail falling? If you have never been in a building with a tin roof, you don't know what you have missed.

I did not see a sign of any kind around it...weeds were growing up all around it. It just seemed to be in a sad state, but there is that dumpster beside it so maybe someone is trying to do something with it. I sure hope they are.

Now, take a good look at this church and go take a look at this picture posted by Don at Slackwater. It was taken by a friend of his...all I am going to say is that my mouth fell open when I saw it! I just cannot comprehend how it was built at the time it was built...I can't even comprehend starting the project this day and age. Later, after seeing it, I thought to google 'The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood,' then clicked images to see more detailed photos of the architecture. I was even more impressed after doing that.

Flutterbies

I wonder why they were called butterflies and not flutterbies...because they sure tend to flutter on by when I try to capture them in a photograph.
Remember when we were kids, any where there was a mud puddle, there would be all kinds of butterflies. One I don't often see around here are the tiny little silver ones....not sure what they are called, but I don't think they are an inch long even. Oh, I see one once in a blue moon, but that is about it.

Puss Puss is rough on butterflies....I have seen her chase one all over the yard, leaping for it. Run up trees, and jump out after it, and finally actually catching it by doing just that. Of my four cats, she is the most dedicated hunter. Always catching the least bit of movement and going on the alert.

The cardinals have moved on...I don't think they had babies yet. But I am sort of relieved because I don't think the cats caught one of them...usually if they catch a bird, mouse, or mole, they bring it to show us. They like to share that way.

But the cats are just being cats, and I love them. Each one has a distinct personality. My four now are so totally different than the four I had a few years ago. The ones I have now never listen to me...and I am meaning never. Except one time last Christmas Bubbie was about to start with the Christmas tree and I yelled at him, really mad in fact, and he looked at me and actually stopped. I think that was the one and only time any have ever listened. They don't look when I call their name, much less come to me.

The four I had before, well, one was mine, one for each of my daughters and the other....she came here and claimed us all. One of my daughter's cats came from the humane shelter, and was older, but she still knew her name...all of them knew their name, came to their name, I don't remember the one we got from the pound ever doing much for me to tell her no or get down...but the other three all knew what the word no mean, they all got down when I told them, and they came to their name.

With our cats now, we call ourselves the cat herders part of the time; the rest we are just doormen.

I want to leave you with a couple quotes which I find to be so true....if you want to read more go here.

"Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are God."
- Unknown

"Dogs have owners, cats have staff."
- Unknown

"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. "
- Jeff Valdez

Out the rear window

We had to hurry home yesterday evening...storms with the possibility of golf ball sized hail was predicted for the county we were in.
We actually noticed the sky and started home before we heard the forecast, but once we heard it, we were a bit more serious about getting home.
We noticed this cloud start forming, but we were in too big of a hurry for me to stop and get a good photo of it...so I was trying to snap shots of it as it changed. We never did get any real bad weather, though we did have some storms after we got home.

We have been planning on getting a GPS for a while now....the past two or three times we have been out we have wished we had one for one reason or another. Last night we really needed one...we were in an area we had never been before, and even though I have an Indiana atlas, for the most part it gives county road numbers, but they have since been given names such as Arney Rd, and other names I don't remember how to spell.

Anyway, I ordered a GPS last night...next I need one of those things my brother talks about that gives the GPS coordinates of each picture taken. I started out with the intention of trying to retrace the roads we took on a drive this past winter but did not succeed.

Let's talk...

I have been MIA as far as blogging goes for a few days...not because anything is really wrong...just had other things on my mind. We have been seeing quite a bit of the little girl seen above...such joy to be found with her.

The above was taken last Friday...we were in Terre Haute on other errands but of course stopped to see her. She was out in the back yard with her mommy and Otto. I cannot think how old Otto is, but I think at least 3, if not 4 but he is a perpetual puppy. A big, goofy puppy at that, that LOVES everyone and everything...I have seen him growl and mean business at one person walking by, and Sarah has seen him growl at one dog.

You may think that is two too many, but if you knew how busy his neighborhood is, you would have to wonder what the two were up to. There are so many people that walk by, lots of them walking their dogs. And oh, does he bark....but it is to announce, 'Hey, I am here--come see me! I want to play!' And I think most people know that and recognize the bark for what it is.

When Roger and I got there Friday, he was thrilled to death to see us...as was Lorelei. But he was a bit more insistent on attention. Well, we had given him his snacks, and had petted him and he had walked a few steps away from us...I suppose lost in his own world. Lorelei walked up from behind and started petting him, and he started to squirm and get all rambunctious thinking it was us, but soon as he turned his head and seen it was her, he just melted...just settled down and stood so still and let her beat on his back. She can pet him, she can beat him, she can do anything to him and he just does not care.

Now to Lorelei, she has become a Papaw's girl...she just wants all of his attention. It is just so cute and funny to watch her watch him. If he isn't looking, she'll shout 'PAPAW!' and smile from ear to ear. We kept her Saturday, while Sarah got ready for open house, which the realtor was holding Sunday. She had taken the dogs and cat to the kennel just to not have to worry with them. Sunday they came up here while the open house was going on...

While Lorelei was with us Saturday, she mentioned Oddie Doddie two or three times, so I feel it was only natural for us to want to be there when Sarah went and got the animals. We got there Monday morn just about the time Sarah was ready to go get them. We played with the toot, and she kept herself busy...after a bit Sarah returns. She is in and out of the house a time or two and Lorelei doesn't realize it...she is over playing with something...just totally engrossed in whatever it was.

Then she heard Otto's toenails on the floor, she threw down her toy, and went running to the gate, all the while yelling 'Oddie Doddie' and giggling and reaching her arm through the gate to get him. She was so thrilled to see him...I let her on in with them and she just could not get enough, and had this big smile on her face. Her face would have lit up a room.
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Nothing else exciting has been happening...we are still having a lot of rain. Roger mowed the yard three times in nine days...and it needed it really bad each time. It us supposed to be clear today, so since I want to hang clothes out I best get busy with that.

Rural Indiana

I love the way the vines cover the old silo...some people see a place like this and wonder why someone don't care for it better. I have been guilty of thinking that myself. But then if I give it a second thought, I have a feeling the people probably have more work than they can handle. And maybe not enough money to do the repairs.

When I was a kid, we always had nails...or almost always had nails on hand, and in various sizes. And could usually find lumber to do small jobs with. I think about it now...think about the playhouse and tree house we built, and I wonder where the wood came from. We did not go buy it...I don't remember even asking if we could use it. And we didn't get into trouble for using it...it was just there.

I know when 'we' built our house, that my dad had the lumber cut from trees on our property. I think dad could look at a tree and figure the board feet that would come from it. He had trouble getting someone to cut it to his specifications. He wanted the boards to be finished one inch thick...not like they are now--3/4 inch thick. I don't know why that sticks in my mind...I know I had to hear him talk about it later in my life, cause I was only about 4 or 5 years old when it was built.

And I do remember helping sand the drywall where the nails were mudded over. I don't remember how much I don't...it could have been very little. I do remember also folding the drywall tape that goes in the corners to be mudded over.

I often think our mom never bragged or was proud of any of us, even though we were not bad kids...but I do remember her bragging to other people that I helped to build the house.

American Picker's Paradise

I feel like I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off this week. I think I have only been home all day one day, and not positive of that. But if I wasn't home all day that day, I didn't leave our little town. And I am not getting any time to go on an excursion to take photographs. I had to go back and really search for a photo to post. With how hot it is, I thought it might be nice to look back just a few months to see what we are missing. This was taken January 7, 2010...

I just have to see this to be glad I don't have to get out in it. The heat is miserable, but I don't miss having to wear layers. I don't miss my fingers freezing when I do take pictures...well, they do if I forget my little knit gloves. I don't miss shopping in the freezing cold. I suppose there are other things I don't miss.

But at the same time, there is nothing like being home and looking out at a day like this and knowing you don't have to get out in it. In spite of not missing it right now, I know when the time rolls around again, the prospect of snow will thrill me just like it did when I was a kid. I don't think I will ever get to old to feel that thrill.
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Does anyone else watch the show American Pickers? It is one of my favorite shows...any time I see a place such as the one pictured I think of that show. I have even known a place or two I think the guys would love picking through. I KNOW I have thrown stuff away they would have loved. I probably even have a few in our old garage.

Coming soon to a garden near you + Lorelei

I was out in the garden the other day, and happened to notice we have little green tomatoes! I cannot wait to have fresh tomatoes. My mouth waters just thinking about picking one and sitting outside with a salt shaker to eat it. I am wondering what Lorelei will think of them...her mom eats catchup but doesn't like tomatoes. And I don't think her dad likes them either, though he loves catchup.

My husband loves catchup, loves tomatoes, likes things cooked with tomatoes such as spaghetti, or anything generally that requires tomato sauce or juice. But he will not drink tomato juice. I will actually buy the small pop can sizes of tomato juice to have one when I am desperate...but they don't hold a candle to home canned tomato juice. If I had it here right now, I could easily drink a quart of it.

Okay, here is Lorelei and her dancing feet again...not sure if you can see it or not. It is a bit dark on my computer, but it was taken late this afternoon with her mom's cell phone and there is not much I can do about that.

What I should be working on....

These are a couple small pieces that I am working on...part of the time. It is a process that was shown on Simply Quilts--a show about quilting that used to be on HGTV. It was hosted by Alex Anderson, and she had various guests on...showing all kinds of projects. This particular episode had Ricky Tims, teaching how to make this Chantelle Tulip in his caveman style of quilting.
I have never really made an art quilt, and Mary and I got to talking via email and both decided to do something different compared to what we normally do. This is what I decided for my project. It is a two for one deal. Two pieces of contrasting fabric are layered together--one set for the top part with the flower and two more pieces for the leaves and the background. Then the flowers and leaves are cut free-hand with the rotary cutter. Notice that the colors are switched opposite on the two above....when you cut one you automatically cut the second one.

These are just small, and will be smaller still when I trim the sides and ends. Just a bit over two feet 'tall' and maybe 15 inches wide. I will probably make little wall hangings from them, though Roger would like for me to make a whole quilt. If it weren't that the seams are so scant I would think serious about it. But with this caveman quilting, the 1/4 inch seam allowance is not figured in. When sewing, one only takes just enough to hold the two pieces together....in my case I probably have a 1/8 inch or less seam allowance.

I would not want to make a quilt with that allowance because I don't think it would hold up to wear. So this is all I am going to make with this method.

In doing it, I think I have come to the conclusion that I like to make quilts that are to be used. I was not happy with these at all at first...but I have come to the conclusion that I can live with them. But I have to force myself to work on them.
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I have spent the entire evening playing music at My Playlist...I have not done that in soooo long. Almost all music was from the pop/rock category with about half a dozen country and a couple bluegrass thrown in. I would have listened to more bluegrass, but the music is not divided into categories....and when I say bluegrass, I generally mean newer songs done with bluegrass instruments. I always just browse the category to find music I like...

I often wonder what makes us like the music we like...I almost always like some of all types, though to be honest I cannot listen to rap long enough to discover anything. Although I think I heard one or two that included bits of 'real' songs that made them bearable, I guess I am showing my age here...

Music is another of those things that really bring back images, feelings, and dreams. There is a big, big playlist that will forever be associated with the orchard. Sometime I need to sit and make a playlist of my favorites that I listened to over and over there....it would be a long, long one and some I could never find anywhere on the web. They were songs I taped from the college radio station.

Well, I here a storm rolling in...I should just post this and head to bed. I always sleep so much better when it is raining or storming.

At last, at last

If Blogger ever becomes available I will do this post...it is not really important in the overall scheme of things. It is frustrating nevertheless. I have been getting the Blogger Unavailable message since last night. I didn't think I could even post comments but they will go through so I might get some visiting done today.

The photo that will be included with this was taken while coming home from a little fishing expedition. We decided to check out creeks...I was thinking with all the rain that they would all be to high to wade and fish, and in thinking that I wore one of my better pair of jeans. Anyway, yesterday, the photo above shows the kind of sky we had..which is the kind that makes my heart sing out with joy. But on with the rest of the day.

We went by Mansfield where Big Raccoon Creek is...it was up a tiny bit, but still plenty fishable. But there were a couple guys already there. So we headed on to the Big Walnut Creek. It was just right for fishing...I was so aggravated at myself for not being prepared to wade. I fished from the bank, and caught a couple...Roger caught 3 or 4. One of his small-mouthed bass was keeper size. Small-mouthed bass are so much fun to catch because they sometimes jump out of the water when fighting to get free. It is so much fun...kind of makes your heart pump a little faster...and hope that someone else is watching.

Right now I have a couple loads of clothes on the line, and thinking I should do at least one more and have it ready to go when some of these get dry enough. The humidity is down this morn, and there is a gentle breeze so it shouldn't take long for some to dry. I have to take advantage of today because rain is in our forecast for the rest of the week. And I have become addicted to hanging my clothes out--laundry is one chore I have always enjoyed. Even when I was still a teen I enjoyed hanging laundry on the line.
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I wrote the above this morn about 9:45 and have tried off and on all day long to post with no luck till now. I have my clothes in off the lines and almost all put away. I always remember Grammy telling about when she was young...Grammy being my husband's grandmother...anyway, she left home while still a teen. She had an apartment in the city, not sure what job she had. But from what she said, it was a busy, bustling place. She would hand wash some of her clothes and hang them on the line before she left for work. One time she came home from work, and they had been stolen.

Ever since she told me that story, any time I leave clothes hanging on the line and actually go shopping or something....when I come home I look to see if my clothes are still there. One time, when my oldest was just a toddler, I had hung towels on the line, put her in the stroller and we walked downtown.

When we returned home, I glanced up to see if my towels were still, there and glanced back down at my daughter...she had stood up and it startled me so that I stopped. The sudden stop caused her to fall our of the stroller, but she only received a bump.

Rain, rain, and more rain

This is what the skies were looking like Thursday afternoon on our way home from shopping...this is looking east. When I get done with this post, I am going to post a couple pictures on my other blog looking north...

I was going to say this is the first day without rain in ages, but actually we had sprinkles around 9:00 or 9:30. Our yard was about a foot high...notice I saw was. Roger and Sarah cut it today. Roger probably should not have been mowing, but he is a lot better. His neck just gets to feeling stiff at the end of the day.

Lorelei wanted to be right where she could see her mom part of the time...part of the time she would come in and play with me. And we watched Olivia a little bit. She is such a character...we had spaghetti for late lunch and she sure ate....but Roger had given her a taste of banana bread earlier. She was done eating, but he got that out and she says 'YEAH!' and had just a bite of it.
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I have been working on a couple little artsy quilts...just a few minutes here and there. I was at first totally disgusted with them, but like them better now. I have to find a piece of leftover batting to use for them, and decide on a fabric backing and get them finished.

I think about how different things are for me quilting compared to my mom and women of the earlier generations. I don't even know where to begin. I think about my mom...she bought very little fabric just for quilting...she did buy muslin for the backing...that is all I can remember her buying when I was younger. She used scraps leftover from making our dresses, and I think my sisters all sewed and sometimes gave her scraps they had.

About the time I started driving, one of the stores started carrying remnants from sewing factories. So, she started buying some of the remnants to use. I cannot remember the prices now...I cannot even remember the prices we paid for material for dresses..but I do know that the prices were cheaper than that. Those remnants were sold by pound. Even with buying the remnants, she still used a lot of scraps.

Then there is me. I have been buying fabric for years. Sometimes by the yard, sometimes just a half yard here or fat quarter there....all to build up my stash. I always said I was buying till when Roger retired, I would have lots to work with. I still buy fabric, but not near as much as I did...and it was all bought with the purpose of making quilts.

For the last quilt I made, I cannot remember the number of fabrics I used, but I did not buy anything new except for the backing. I used all fabrics that I already had. There are 168 squares in the top, and I only cut two squares of any one fabric, and I did not use all the doubles.

Another big difference is this: the memories or thoughts are not there with my quilts that come when looking at quilts my mom made. I look at quilts from her and I see pieces from a dress I had in fifth grade, or there...there is a fabric from that dress she had. Or look there!!! That is a piece from the first dress I made in Home Economics. Oh, and there is fabric from a skirt of one of my sisters. And over there is from a dress I had in 8th grade....and there is one from the dress my sister made me.

There are lots of other differences, but the fabric thing always really stands out for me. When I grew up, I don't even know if there was such a thing as a quilt shop. We bought most of our fabric from J.C. Penney's...they had patterns and fabric on the top floor...there just was not near the variety of fabrics to choose from...you just cannot imagine the variety available now.

However, the one thing that I think remains the same...quilts are made with love. When you receive a quilt, you are being wrapped in love. Even if it is made entirely with a sewing machine, there is still loads of work that goes into one. And that is not counting the money spent on fabric.

Who goes there??

I was trying to snap a quick photo of the cardinal day before yesterday, but a couple of these grackles seemed to think the feeder was for them alone. This one seemed to be warning evey thing else to stay away. Even the one on the ground. And soon as they notice me, they were both gone!

I managed to keep the cats inside today, did not let them out till after dark. (I am just saying the cardinals lasted another day.) That probably only happened cause we were gone a big part of the day. Roger had a couple things to do this morn...then we were going to Sarah's house. But I decided to sew just a line or two or three before we went.

I came up about two hours before we had to be there..grabbed my camera and out the door we went. Roger had left the Rav4 out by the sidewalk rather than put it in the garage since he knew we would be leaving shortly. He was a bit ahead of me...about the time I got in he made the announcement that the car wouldn't start. Neither of us know what to think...we have never had a minute's worth of problems from it.

He tries again and then gets out and looks under the hood...nothing obvious. I try...no luck. Of course the windows are down just a little bit and there is a chance of rain. I came in and snatched trash bags, we cut them open, open the doors, and sort of wrap the plastic trash bags over the open part of the window....that involved Roger coming in and getting duct tape, the handy man's secret weapon.

We get them taped in place, and get in the truck and head on to Sarah's...we have probably killed half and hour or 45 minutes by this time. We go our usual route, only at the last sets of railroad tracks cars are backed way back and everyone is turning around and heading a different route. So we do, too...we go to the next way we might be able to get through...no luck there...the train is all the way down there.

So we go an even longer route and on the third try we make it through...not sure how much time we spent doing that...but we still made it in time to spend a few minutes with Sarah before she left...and stayed for a bit after she got back. Came home, and decided it was just the battery with the Rav4...it is fixed and running fine.

I tried to catch up on some of the inside work tonight...haven't spend much time on here other than to text my daughter and to compose a couple emails. Now it is time to close and maybe watch a bit of TV or to read..not sure which.

Hard to see but look anyway

These are hard to see, but click and take a look anyway. The top photo is a birds nest....a cardinal's nest, in fact. And below is a not so good photo of one the pair of cardinals that have the nest.
The other day, one of the cats was wanting in...I opened the door to let it in and heard this chirp, chirp, chirp from a bird. I opened the door wider and there on the swing sat a cardinal. I thought it odd, but didn't really think anything farther. But later that day or the next day, I heard it again. It was fussing cause Mama Cat was laying in a chair out there. So, then I investigated farther.

It would not leave even with me stepping out there. Just kept flitting around in the smoke tree and dogwood...then I spotted the nest. It is level with the roof, or very close to that height...about 3-4 ft. from the edge of the roof. I have no idea why they built there...I am both happy but at the same time kind of on edge because of my kitties.

Mama Cat and Cougar are not so totally into hunting though they do show some interest, I think Bubbie is more so than they are, but Puss Puss is another story. She is a dedicated hunter...anything that moves is not safe....whether it is a bug, butterfly, spider, or bird. I have seen her catch all those things.

Yesterday I heard her meowing and meowing. Well, she will go down in the basement and 'catch' some of my dirty socks from the clothes hamper and carry them around and meow and meow. Usually she brings them up here and I find them laying in the middle of the floor. I am not sure if she thinks she has caught something or if she is wishing she had a kitty.

I figured that that was what she was doing this time...so I started out by looking down in the basement. She wasn't there. So I started to look through the rest of the house and happened to glance out the kitchen door and there she was at the storm door, with a present for me....a dead robin she had caught. So, I am really hoping the cardinal family survives. I so wish it was not the nature of cats to hunt...but it is their nature and I have to accept it.

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Roger is really starting to feel better. Maybe by this time next week, this will be just a memory. Tomorrow morn he goes to the chiropractor , then we head to Sarah's house to watch Lorelei for a while. Such a hard job, but someone's got to do it;) If I had had to go of the morn, Roger would have cancelled his appointment...seeing her is like a dose of medicine for whatever ails us.

Another update/Lorelei post

I don't know when I will be back to regular blogging...somehow or other I am having a hard time getting back to it. When I have time to blog, I seem to have blogger's block...but when I am out doing things, there are always things that pop into my mind, but by the time I get time to sit down, I don't remember how I was going to say what I wanted to say.

It is never just one thing that happens here...Roger was doing some painting and was in a tight cramped space and he 'sprained' his neck...that is what the chiropractor said. He has been hurt at various times in his life, but this had had the most intense pain he has ever felt. He has been to Doc twice with this and has improved, but I think he has a ways to go. He is supposed to not do anything for at least a week.

And there are other things, too, but won't go into any more details. Instead I will tell you a thing or two Lorelei has done. Last night, I was reading and didn't get on the computer till later...I had a message from Sarah telling that when she put Lorelei down for the night, that as she closed the door, Lorelei yelled 'Bye!' ( I couldn't help but wonder if she blew her mom a kiss also--which she does now)

The other night her dad came in with some chips...when Lorelei seen him with them she says 'OH. Yeah!' She is just so funny.

I almost forgot...Otto got out of their yard over the weekend. Let me explain...the regular door to go in the garage is in the fenced in part of their yard...and they had forgot and left it open and the overhead door was open also. So, he gets out and is gone...he wasn't gone long before they realized it. They each got in their own car and started to search...stopped and ask people and no one had seen him.

Then Sarah is at a stop sign and hears his toenails on the sidewalk...she gets out and opens her back door and he jumps in the back with Lorelei. Lorelei in turn is so excited, she yells Oddie Doddie, and keeps saying it over and over and over on the way home...which wasn't that far, but was across one major, busy road.

Have I mentioned she has dancing feet...I honestly can't remember. Anyway, I will leave you with a couple of her and her dancing feet. The first video was when she was about done with dancing feet, but the second is out of this world. She impressed her Papaw....oh, that is another thing. She has been saying dad and mom mom and even Mamaw for a while...which she sometimes calls me Mamaw and sometimes calls me Nana. Even though she has known who Papaw was for so long...since just a few months old...she could not say his name...would hardly even attempt it.

Last week while she was here, she said it, yelled it actually. And Sarah said she said Papaw all the way home...over and over and over.

Now, back to the good stuff, here she is with her dancing feet!


And here is Dancing feet out of control!