Random things....

Remember I told you an artist wanted to use my barn photo for one of his projects...a pen and ink project?
His name is Sonny Perschbacher, and a few days ago he contacted me and offered to send me a copy. I told him I would be happy if he just took a photo and sent it via email. Well, he did that but yesterday I also received a copy. I went to his sight and it is listed there....you can see it right HERE! For some reason I cannot copy the link he gives down on the right side. Anyway, I really, really like it. I would like it if it wasn't a barn I had photographed.

I am thinking I will have Sarah mat it for me if she can find the time...she is talented that way. And I will have Roger make a frame. Maybe from a piece of wood that came from our own old barn. It may be a while before it is done with the things coming up.
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Roger got the results of the blood work and the biopsy he had done last time at the doctor and they did not show anything at all out of the ordinary. So week after next he goes and has the patches put on. The only thing about them is he has got to keep them dry, so won't be able to get out and do anything and won't be able to take a shower. He will be fit to be tied with both of those things.
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Has anyone else heard of the Kim Komando show on radio....she is the digital goddess. I don't listen to her near all the time simply because I forget. But I LOVE her show...she covers so many areas and helps people with problems, tells about new apps, new programs, talks about security issues...she just covers everything. I really have thought about paying for a subscription till I can listen any time I want to.

Sure not everything is something I am interested in, but almost every time I hear it I learn something new. Or hear about a cool deal...some of which I have really regretted not grabbing. Oh, not through her show...but about a year ago one of the camera companies had out a little point and shoot camera for $89 that was water proof or water resistant....I should have grabbed that too quick to talk about cause I am all the time wishing I had one. Just to be out in the rain and snow sometimes...
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The auction house came and picked up my daughter's stuff yesterday, along with a few items from our garage. I wish we could have brought it here and sold it through Craigslist or something, but just too much of it and it was too heavy for Roger and I to deal with. I still do not have strength in my left arm, so cannot do a lot of lifting. Someone is going to be very lucky to get her washer and dryer....I think they had been used a year.
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We are waiting on the kids to get here...they should be here in another hour or so. They had things to do before they get here. It is not as warm as I would wish for Lorelei but she will probably be fine.

I am scheduling this to post later tonight...probably won't be visiting anyone till tomorrow evening....

Help

I wondered if anyone could help me identify the flowers below.
My daughter found them growing along the road on the west coast...said they were all along the highway. I have literally spent hours looking for it on-line and am not having any luck. What's more, I feel like I should know what it is.

The other night at the strip pits I saw my usually little group of deer. I assume it is the same little group....I can always depend on seeing them near this one pond.

And this was the sunset...

Four and counting....

This is from the strip pits a bit back...notice the four turtles in graduated sizes. I have not seen a single one at this pond since them...but at all the other 'big mudholes' I see heads popped up out of the water every time I pass.
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We have been busy...my oldest daughter that moved year before last has decided to sell her stuff that is in storage. Her furniture....since it is so expensive to ship it. The more personal things like towels, etc Sarah and I took. And I have mailed her some of her books, and plan on storing a few more of those.

I spent yesterday making a few final decisions about some of those smaller items, and then happened to notice that the power cord was not with her TV. It is basically a new TV...has been used about a year, but been sitting here for almost two years. We looked and looked and looked some more. All to no avail.

So I get on the phone and start calling appliance places...I first call Countryside TV and Appliance here in town...their tech guy was out but she would ask him if they had it and then call me back. I can never just sit so started calling other places...the one place told me to go to Radio Shack. So I called them...he didn't know. He told me to take a photo of where the cord plugs into the TV and take down the information about the power, etc.....so I took pictures of both and printed them out.

We talked a minute and decided to head down there, but just to be polite we stopped by Countryside to check and to tell her we were headed on to Radio Shack. Well, she had not checked, but her tech guy had just got back...she took the photos back and he had one!!! Talk about relief. I just did not feel like a trip to Terre Haute so that was one less thing we had to do.

So, today is the day the auction place comes to pick up her furniture and washer and dryer, etc. We will then have the fun of waiting to see how much it brings....

One stage finished....

This photo above was taken while looking up at it as it flapped in the wind....
I finally decided that the quilt blocks had finally sat long enough...it was time to sew them together.
The day before we went and picked up Lorelei I sat down at the machine and sewed half of them together....and yesterday while doing laundry I got the other half of the blocks together and the two halves made into a whole. And this is the result. (One row does not show in the photos...the quilt is actually square.)

I never have a good place to photograph quilt tops or quilts...or at least not easy to get to so most times I just resort to the clothesline in the back yard. The above photo looks different because it was also take while the wind was blowing it so hard and I was half looking up. I think you will like all photos better if you click and enlarge. This is a log cabin quilt with the blocks set in the barn raising style.

After the weekend, I think I will try to get the backing made and the layers pin-basted together. I suppose then it will set a while while I decide how to quilt it. I just have no idea--I don't think I want to meander or stipple quilt...it will be machine quilted whatever I do.

It would be so simple to send this out to be quilted, but I just cannot stand to have other hands finish my work. Maybe it is my form of art...maybe I fear someone else messing it up...I really don't know just why. I just know I would hate for anyone but me to do the quilting.

On the way home+ Lorelei comments

Friday we went and picked up Lorelei...when we left home it was sunny skies.
when we headed home it started to get darker and darker... nearer home this is how the sky looked...

And then we got some wind and rain...but nothing too bad. But I will tell you this...the above photos do not do it justice. I wish I had had a wide angle lens, but all I had was the little point&shoot.

We did not stop at all though I would have loved to before it started to rain.
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Now to the fun part of this post...and I doubt if I can remember all Lorelei said that got our attention. The first thing, when we got over there to get her, she wanted me to go play with her. And she wanted me to help her get one of her dress up outfits on. Something was said about kings....I said I thought women and girls were queens and princesses.

Lorelei's response, "Yes, We are."

Well, all the time I am talking to her as she is dancing around, Roger and Sarah are looking at some knife she had and Roger is telling her something about them...Lorelei is still just dancing around. None of us had the slightest clue she was paying any attention to them.

Lorelei says, "Papaw really likes knives." Out of the mouths of babes....
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The first night she was here...oh, you would have had to be here and be me to fully appreciate. We went to bed--she and I sleep in the spare bed. I read her a couple stories and turn off the light. And then if I told one story, I told ten. And I am NOT a good storyteller. But she doesn't realize that. Good thing.

All the time she is wiggling--kicking a foot, moving an arm. Anything to stay awake. And during the time of it we heard what sounded like a minor crash in the kitchen/bath area and she is asking what it was. I am trying to just shrug it off, till she will forget about it but in the back of my mind I am wondering what in the world the cats have found to get into now.

So, she continues jabbering...probably for half an hour after that...now mind you, that we have been in bed for an hour and a half....after another half hour passed, she says, "Mamaw--I have to go to the potty." So out of bed we get...turn the bathroom light on and her potty training seat is no longer on the potty. Take the time to go look at it...it is important to look at the above link for the understanding of the rest of the story.

I look beside the potty, I look in the tub...wondering if Roger has moved it. About that time he emerges and starts talking about the noise and that he never could figure out what made it. It hits me...you got to understand our Bubbie cat is a big boy...and not only do dogs drink from toilets, so does Bubbie cat.

So I tell him the I am looking for Lorelei's potty seat, and I start telling him I bet Bubbie tried to get a drink from the potty and got stuck in it...he tells me he was sitting there in the living room and a cat came flying through and was just a blur it was moving so fast...

Lorelei was just standing there listening...she started laughing so hard...I so wish I had taken the time to get the little camera to record her laugh...she laughed till she cried...or as she says, her eyes leaked. She would start to quiet down then she would look at me and say something about Bubbie in her potty seat and start laughing all over again. It is such a deep belly laugh...it is just contagious.

So that was the first night...hard to get her to sleep, but once she asleep, don't get up till 8:30 the next morning. We were busy all day Saturday....she blew bubbles, chased butterflies, played hopscotch, went to the park...just non stop action all day. She would barely take the time to eat. Then when night came, the last thing we did was watch The Fox and the Hound....she brushed her teeth and we went to bed.

She asked me something, and I tried to answer it. She says, "mamaw, stop talking now--I am tired." And was asleep in about 2 or 3 minutes.

BUT, she woke up about 4:30....her nose was stuffy, her eyes were bothering her...I think it is the matter that gets in the corners...I gave her benedryl and took a warm wet washrag and washed her face and let her hold it against her closed eyes..and she made a true effort to go back to sleep....she lay there and had me rub her back...for several minutes. I thought we had it made, and she sat up and started crying...said she wanted to go to her home now...she wanted to see her Mommy and her Daddy.

So we were up and on the road by about 5:45...we did just got to the edge of town and she was asleep, but we went ahead and went on. About half way there Roger stopped to get a coffee...while he was inside she woke up and started crying again...saying, "I want to go to my house." I thought for a minute she was really going to get wound up but she calmed down and went back to sleep...

Now when we got there, I got her out...and she latched herself to me and told me she wanted me to stay and play with her at her house.

I know I am forgetting things but these were the highlights that I keep thinking of over and over. And last night, she had her mom lay down with her in her bed...I don't know how long Sarah laid there, but she told her it was time for her to leave...she was tired.

In case you are wondering, not a single picture was taken while she was here...she keeps me so busy I don't even think about getting the camera out when it is just her here.

Photo overload...

These geese were having a ball today.

I couldn't just show one photo...

I know these geese are not rare...

yet I have never been around geese very often and had fun watching these.

Roger had a meeting to go to...so I took my camera and left. Well, we have our rod & reels in the Rav at least 75% of the time. I had been wanting to throw a line in the water so I headed out to a strip pit out at Universal that is open to the public. The first cast I caught a real nice bluegill. I cast around for a bit and caught a large-mouthed bass...but it was probably no longer than the blue, if as long.

By then this pair of geese had swam over so I went and got my camera and took a few shots. I suppose it is that time of year...they spent most of the time cleaning themselves. The big one, I suppose the male, would dip his head clear under the water and raise it up and the water would flow back over his back. And one time he dove under and came up about 10 feet away.

I left them, went to another spot on that strip pit to cast around a few more times....the first cast again hooked a bluegill, but not another single hit.

So I left there and went to Green Valley, which is about 15 miles from here...it has a main lake and then a another one that just opened a few years ago. Both are strip pits. I cast quite a bit in the main one and did not get a single bite, so went to the newer lake and caught four crappie! I did not want to come home....

But I did. And due to seeing Judy's post about finishing the binding on her quilt, I finally started sewing the block together that I made from the Civil War Reproduction fabrics. It is now half sewn together...but the rest is going to have to wait because we plan to have Lorelei for the next couple of days if nothing happens.

From a little drive...

Another old home that is in a sad state...
I couldn't help but love how massive the trees are.
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Roger and his buddy went shooting today...I was doing laundry and fooling around here and in just a bit here they came. Which is very strange for them to not be gone very long.

Roger bumped his knee, and bumped the exact spot where they took the biopsy and it broke the stitches. Blood had run all the way down to his shoe before he even realized what he had done. So we called his doctor and she had him come back in for her to stitch it again.

It's picture time again!

.Both photos were taken by Lorelei's mommy.

These just came from Sarah. She was outside and Lorelei said, 'Mommy, it's picture time." She turned around and the top scene was the first shot followed by the other. That Otto is some special dog...he could not be any better to her. My heart just melts everytime I see his patience with her. His worst thing is he gets so excited if someone new comes, and if it is someone that likes dogs, he seems to sense it and gets that much more excited.
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We had to get to Terre Haute this morn...I don't remember if I have told but Roger has been seeing a dermatologist about the breaking out. So far, have had some biopsies done, and did another today of an area that was NOT from the original breaking out but was infected and his knee still looks strange.

The dermatologist is going to be done for a week or two, and when she gets back she is going to run some more tests. She really wants to get to the root of the problem. I feel like he is in good hands. The first biopsies did not show anything...the labs just said it was dermatitis.
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Another beautiful day here in the Wabash Valley....actually on the hot side. Roger mowed the yard yesterday...it really needed it. I think this is the earliest we have ever had to mow the yard. Redbuds are now in bloom...we saw may apples up today and Roger said the trillium is up here in our yard. I had not thought to look for it...won't be long till the bluebells bloom if that is so.

Fun times...

We took Miss Lorelei to the park yesterday....

As you can see she had a good time...

she never stayed in one spot very long but made the rounds to each thing a couple times.


I think when all is said and done, she would probably has sat the longest in the dirt if we had let her...


Can you tell she is growing?
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I miss her so bad once she leaves...yet have had two or three nights where I just haven't got any rest hardly...and have a couple things to do in the next couple of days. I hope I can get some sleep/rest the next few days, and maybe towards the end of the week go get her to come stay a couple days.....I think she will stay now with no problems. She goes non-stop all the time she is here...just such a little busy body. I wish I had half her energy.

Oh, she sat on my lap at one of my sewing machines. She discovered if she held in the needle up button that it would sew one stitch at a time...so she did some sewing while here. I hope this is a sign of things to come.

You know it is spring when....

You know it is spring when you can see swarms of bugs in the rays of sunlight filtering through the trees! click and enlarge the above to see better. I just couldn't believe it...then as it turned to dusk...after the sun is gone yet not quite dark, there were swarms and swarms of mosquitoes!

I ran out to the strip pits just to see if I would relax more...did not see much. I first seen three deer in one of two spots I always see deer. Then a little later, seen a couple more in the other spot....but as late as it was, I was wondering where they all were. Usually see 4 or 5 here and 3 or 4 there. Finally, I was leaving the strip pits and happened to glance back to my right over my shoulder and the scene below is what met my eyes.

I have tried to lighten it...not sure how it will look on everyone's computer...it is not great on mine but I can see all the deer. Well, my camera was at it highest ISO, and speed so low...I was amazed that it wasn't a totally blurry mess...
I took two or three of this view...again click and enlarge. Anyway, started easing on down the hill, and my eyes got adjusted to the light, or lack of, and I could see on down the side of the hill there were more deer here and there, and then on over farther away there was another group of deer...at least 5 or 6 or 7 in one cluster...so who knows how many were out there.
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Sarah and Lo are on their way here, so not sure if I will be blogging much this weekend. Will try to catch up when I can.

Ramblings...

A few weeks ago I had an artists contact me and ask to use the above photo for a rendering as he called it...he does pin and ink. I felt honored that anyone would want to use one of mine. My thoughts on this are that if he was there he could see it for himself...it isn't as if he is claiming the photo as his own.

Another thing....does anyone do Pinterest? I don't really participate/have not joined it, but every now and then will go and type in quilts to see what everyone has pinned. Participants find pictures of things they like and 'pin' it to their wall...not sure if that is what they call it since I did not join. Anyway, I had not thought of my photos being pinned till I saw it mentioned on another blog.

All you have to do is type http://pinterest.com/source/yourblogname.blogspot.com/
in the browser window, hit enter and you will find whether any of your photos have been pinned. When I typed in http://pinterest.com/source/rose-treadway.blogspot.com/, which is my Time Stand Still blog, I found that a few barns had been pinned.

I have mixed feelings about it, but it does give a link back to your blog, and they are not claiming them as their own...they are just saying they like them...so again, a compliment in a way. I have been checking it out, and the way it gives the link back is sort of quirky. The first link it gives results in a page that says the Page Is Not Found, but on that error page is the correct link.

Anyway, I wondered if anyone else had thoughts on either one? I really don't mind that someone uses my photos as a basis for a painting or a drawing, and as long as there is a link back to my blog I don't really see any harm in people pinning my photos on Pinterest.

Not very good, but.....

This is not a very good photo quality wise...but considering that it really was almost dark, that I had my ISO set as high as it would go which is 1600 in my case...and had my lens all the way out to 300 which is surely not enough...and only had my shutter speed at 1/125....I consider it a pretty lucky shot not to be any worse.

There were 3 or 4 of these short-eared owls flying around...the other two were pretty far away. I had seen them earlier...don't know where they were by the time I eased on down the road and came to this one. You can see more pictures of them I have taken at the strip pits here and here. Until I started seeing these short-eared owls out there, I can only remember seeing an owl two or three times in my life.
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Spring seems to really have sprung around here...it has been so warm around here. I have been in short sleeves all day long. Still been busy with 'other stuff' and a phone call or two I had to make. Got some info I needed.

And I just opened another jar of home-canned tomato juice. There is just nothing like it. I really hope my tomatoes do good this year till I can can some more. I am thinking about putting out a few more plants on the south side of our house till I will for sure have enough. I guess I will wait till planting time comes before I make a final decision about that.

I know I want more Brandywines...my best friend/sister-in-law suggested them to me 4 or 5 years ago...I think one year I could not find any, the first year I raised them, I loved them...they have that good old tomato flavor and texture....then I raised them and either weather or heat or something, none of my tomatoes tasted so good that year, then I planted some again last year and oh, they are just heavenly. So it is worth the risk to plant them.

I also picked up 4 more Asiatic Lily bulbs and need to get those planted. I could go wild with flowers....and I am hoping I have a bunch of volunteer sunflowers sprout up around the bird feeder again this year. I will be able to take better care of them.

Well, I am just sitting here dreaming of spring...so I will leave you with another favorite song I happened across a few years ago..its called 'You Plant Your Fields.'
"

Good Times....

Last week Sarah did not babysit Baby J....so this was the first morn that Lo had seen him in a few days. I think you can tell how she feels about him by just looking at the photo above! I think it just made her day when she got up and saw him this morn. She loves other kids so much.
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I have had other things on my mind the past few days, and by the time I sit down at night to really sit, I have been too tired to think about a real blog post. My mind will be whirling with a zillion thoughts going through...not sure if I am back to blogging her normally or not...I am just going to take it one day at a time.

I have not got to work any more on my kitchen...got side-tracked with that but hopefully will get back to it in a few days. I really would like to have it everything gone through in there. Just with the bottom cabinets and the one upper cabinet I have done, it done looks a whole lot better.

After I get them done, I really need to get down in the basement and go through some totes and dispose of stuff from them. I know that I probably have time, but I hate to think of what a job my girls would have if something happened to me. It will be bad enough the best I can do.

I still have not been doing any sewing to speak of...need to settle down and sew the blocks together from the Civil War repro fabrics...
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I don't know about where you are, but here was such a beautiful day. Windy. But warm wind, Hoping that we have a few more dry days.

While doing the Friday's fences meme, I came across this post....and the following video was mentioned and a link given for it....

I really liked it, so thought I would share here....

Then, as the afternoon moved forward, I headed back to the kitchen cabinets...I started trying to do a little de-cluttering yesterday and wanted to continue today.

If I can have music, work can actually be fun. In fact it can turn it into fun. So, I went to the computer to Playlist, and started one of my playlists...started adding to it. Then I thought of A Pirate Looks at Forty by Jimmy Buffet...I will always love that song. Anyway, while at Playlist I found a version I had never heard before...not that it is that much different from the original...anyway, give this a listen and see if you like it...


I just fell in love with it all over again...

Three years ago today.....

Can you believe it was only three years ago that this was taken...what a world of change has gone on since then.

She has been here and gone to bed while her mom and dad has been out, but she had never spent the night all by herself. Then last week she started wanting to come spend the night with Mamaw and Papaw...we all wondered would she chicken out at the last minute.

But Sarah and Otto brought her down Tuesday...due to other things she didn't make it down sooner. Well, Sarah stuck around long enough to eat lunch with us...and afterwards we were sitting there and Lo had had two candy hearts but had been messing with one and dropped it. Sarah made her throw it away, and told her not to ask for more.

Lo asked me, and I told her just to wait a little while...she looked at her mom and said, "You go home." Just didn't skip a beat. And when Sarah left it did not bother her in the least...we played outside and she giggled and giggled. I do not not why I did not come get the camera...I guess I got caught up in watching her.

She found dandelions, and then she noticed these tiny blue flowers that I had not even noticed. She blew bubbles....she searched for rocks...she ran and hid behind the tree.

And then a neighbor has a little dog...oh, not a real little breed...one about the size of a beagle. I have tried to make friends with it but it just never trusts me enough. It seen Lorelei and here it came...you could almost see it smiling. It came to me--but its real object was Lorelei. It went and got a stick and brought it to her...just so totally thrilled to have a child to play with. Now I am wondering if the next time I see it if it will still be okay or will I need Lorelei to meet with approval.

Anyway, back to the subject...Lorelei was fine all night....and did not want to go home the next day. If we had not had an appointment with a dermatologist yesterday morn, she could have stayed another night. She might have had to take care of us by then, but she would have been willing.

More....

Just a few more from the quilt show...
it will be the last I show.

All are for a bed...
at least to the best of my memory.

This last one was my favorite...not that the others are beautiful. This one just really appealed to me most.

A few more from the quilt show...

I thought I would show a few more from the quilt show...I thought you might enjoy all the bright beautiful colors of this quilt. Wouldn't it brighten up a room on a dreary winter day?



This one was from Germany.....the below photo shows the way the quilting showed up on back. It is as pretty in its own way as the front.


Then we have another leaf quilt below....
it is not my favorite but I am definitely going to have to do a leave quilt because they sure appeal to me.


And here we have a couple more...

So much work and so much talent.

Tomorrow I will try to show you my favorite quilt...it is nothing like these...it is just a basic usable quilt. Not that I wouldn't love any of the above....but quilts that are made for the bed are what really pulls at my heart....when I am making a quilt with someone in mind, it is like stitching a prayer for them...wanting the best in life for them. I like knowing that my daughters both sleep under a quilt that I have made them...they are wrapped in my love.

Indiana Heritage Quilt show....

Yesterday, Mary sent me an email which reminded me that the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show was starting....they were leaving right away. We thought we might as well head that way, too.


I thought first I would show a few of the art quilts...some are almost like paintings.


The artist takes fabric and needles and thread and sewing machines and create works of art.


Who would ever have thought of making a quilt like the scene above?


The one above is probably the biggest of all I am showing here...but I cannot remember quite how big it was.


I couldn't even sketch the the scene above, much less create it with fabric and thread.


Since we all love butterflies, I thought I would throw in this one...


and the one above is one of my favorites....


I just had to throw in a version a little bit closer in.

And here is the last I am showing here today...aren't they works of art.

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We have had storms roll through this morn...had hail in the morn, but only for a few seconds and not too big....then a few minutes ago, it got so dark, one would have needed headlights to drive safely. Another storm passed through, and now the sky is just stormy looking but not threatening.

I hope you enjoyed the quilt show....they all enlarge...and really are best viewed bigger.