Now showing...

I finally sat down and finished this this evening...I don't know why didn't finish it the other day.  Is it bright enough for you?  Lorelei picked out the flowered fabric and her aunt and I picked out the other two to go with it.

This is the back...not too bad looking.

This shows the pockets.  When I was a kid, I loved pockets.  In fact I still do...

I have not washed this...and I don't know about the fit but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Anyway, just wanted to show that I did in fact finish it.

From Indiana--2011

I am pretty sure I have never posted this.  It was taken in 2011...I think from somewhere near Shipshewana.  How I would have loved that porch when I was kid.  Shoot, I would love it now.

Mom had a friend that lived in a house with a wrap around porch.  At least she lived there for a while.  We only went to her house once or twice a year.  And I dearly loved to go because that porch went all the way around the house.  I barely remember being in the house itself.  It was a two-story house. I was for sure never upstairs...and I don't even remember which room they had their visit in.  There was a farm pond not far from it.  I never fished in it, but mom's friend did.

It is funny, I knew I had to behave at her house.  Mom's friend had only had one daughter...I never met that daughter.  She lived in another state I think.  Anyway, I don't know if it was because Mrs. H was older, or it was cause Mr. H. was sickly, I just knew to be quiet and behave.

But if we went to the Jones, I could climb trees, and explore around the place and come in and out and nothing was thought about it.  And if there were kittens, someone would be sure to take me to them, or tell me where they were.  (My mom hated cats...)  Actually, it was one of the Jones that talked mom into letting me have my first cat.

Anyway, any time I see any sort of a wrap-around porch, I think of Mrs. H....

Willy Nilly Friday 5

1.  We probably spend as much time watching stuff on YouTube as we do watching actual TV.  We watch stuff about our hobbies;  in my case, I watch a lot about sewing as well as regular series that were on TV at one time.  Roger watches stuff about fly tying, knife making, history, and more besides. He tends to watch random things...I tend to find series that I will watch till I watch them all...recently, it was All Creatures Great and Small, before that New Tricks, and Ballykissangel was somewhere in the mix.  At one time YouTube had all the Great British Sewing Bee shows on, then could only watch clips for a while.  Right now, there are 3 full length shows available from Season 3...below is the first one.


2.  Do you ever pause and think how sewing is done everywhere.  Some out of necessity, but a lot is done by people just trying to make something beautiful.  How many of you have heard of  molas....click here to see a video showing some...they are made by hand.  So many stitches...adding and taking away layers of cloth.  Or click here to see the Siddis making quilts.  Again by hand...

3.  How many of you have what you call guilty little pleasures?  Mine is the mini-powdered donuts that you get in a bag.  I LOVE them.  I don't especially care for the normal sized powdered donut, but give me a bag of the small ones and I am good to go.

4.  I have not fed the birds in days...simply because of the number of cowbirds that come.  The last day I filled the feeder, it took them approximately 3 hrs to empty it...and the feeder holds close to a gallon of feed.  The little songbirds did not get to enjoy any of it.  I will eventually start  to feed them again...just waiting a bit in hopes that the cowbirds will have moved on.

5.  We seen the doctor today...it was just a follow up to the test/procedure Roger had done.  The one biopsy they took was benign...did not show any pre-cancer cells.  So that is good.

Linking to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 5

Because it makes me happy...

I saw this one last night, it made me smile.  I meant to post it last night but forgot it.  Well, here I was strolling down memory lane again tonight and there it was again.  I thought it must be a sign.  Maybe it will make some of the rest of you smile when you see it.

I am still working on the dress...I did get the zipper in.  Of all times, I did not test the zipper before putting it in.  I am so aggravated...it is just such a rough, catchy feeling when I open and close the zipper.  and I had bought it new for this project!  I don't know that I have ever 'tested' a zipper before, but normally I open and close them just in fooling with them.  From now on, I bet I never put another one in without checking.

Roger has an appointment tomorrow, just to go over the test he had last Friday.  Since he had never had it done before.  Of course we are supposed to get some snow, but it is not supposed to be very much.  His appointment is not till up in the morn, so the roads should be clear before we have to leave.

I will get visiting done sometime tomorrow...maybe a few before we leave as well as tomorrow evening.

From the archives

I have been having the best time going through my photographs.

After all the cold weather, these really appeal to me.  I hope you enjoy them, too.

Are you anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring and warmer weather?

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I am still working on Lorelei's dress.  I had planned to finish it today but instead we ran some errands, and went to Terre Haute.  I did not work on it till later in the evening.  I am thinking it is going to be too big for her.  So kind of disappointed that way.  Maybe I will be wrong.

I have not did any more de-cluttering to speak of.  Oh, have thrown/donated an item here and there.  I would like to get started back at that.  I think I will feel a lot more like doing that when the weather gets better, or spring arrives. 

From a 2008 roadtrip....

I was looking for a photo to include in this post and came across this one from September of 2008.  I did not remember this bright red place....and cannot believe that I forgot it.  Do you see that smiley face?
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I did start on Lorelei's dress today.  Believe it or not, I marked every seamline....I have not marked a seamline in years.  In fact, I think the only time I ever marked the seamlines was when I had to make dresses in Home Ec and only then because the teacher made me/all students.

I am trying to not rush and enjoy the process.  But it is hard not to just whip through it as fast as I can.

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The other night I was sitting here...I don't recall what we had been talking about or what was on TV and partial line from a song crossed my mind...'a hundred years too late....'  I was pretty sure of the number 100 but not positive...but the 'years too late' part I was positive of.  I kept asking Roger, do you remember a song talking about being born a hundred years too late...he didn't.   I tried to relax and just could not think of it.

I thought and thought the next day and almost thought of it several times...I told Roger it was not some off the wall song only I would like...I was sure he liked it, too.  I finally thought to go to one of a song lyrics site and had to go through several pages to get to it...I was wrong about it being 100 yrs....it was 200 yrs.  Does any of you know what song I am talking about without looking it up?




There you have it...A Pirate Looks at Forty by Jimmy Buffett...

Strip pit sightings

We wanted to get out just a bit yesterday, but did not want to get too far off the beaten path so we ran through the strip pits.  The first things we saw were swans...always at a distance.  Still, they are fun to see.

Nest were the pheasants...only this single pheasant flew up, though.  And that took me by surprise.  So the picture is not sharp at all.  The rest always took off through the dried weeds and grass.

Next up to photograph were the geese--both Canada and White-fronted.  Oh, I could not tell from looking at these dhots.  But I am going by the ones that flew over plus their sounds.  And though you cannot see in this photo, there were a few swans there, too.  But only  a few....nothing like the numbers there the past couple of times.

The above photo shows only a small portion of the geese on the strip pit on this side. I did not even try to photo graph the rest of them as they were farther on down.  

Then this photo is on the south side of the road....in years past we seldom saw anything on this one...oh, maybe a couple pairs of something.  But never in numbers like this.

And of course we saw hawks...Deb identified another shot like this as a rough-legged hawk.  I swear you would think this is the same shot, but if you right click, and click open in a new window, you will see they have different image numbers.

There also the usual Northern Harriers skimming over the ground.

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I did cut out a dress for Lorelei yesterday.  It will have a zipper...do you know how long it has been since I put a zipper in anything?  I cannot even remember the last time I did.  I am not sure if I will work on it today, but am hoping, too.  If it turns out half decent, I will show it on here sometime, but if it is a bust, I probably won't even mention it again.

Feeling sunny here

Even though it is cold here, and we are supposed to get from 3-6 inches of snow, feeling pretty good here.  Roger's test did not show anything wrong...have one biopsy to wait for, but the doctor felt pretty sure that it was not cancer.  So we are pretty much feeling relaxed tonight.

The cats are all snuggled in trying to stay warm.  Bubbie still goes out once or twice a day, but is only out for a very few minutes before he wants back in.  I feel sorry for anyone or anything that has to be out in this cold weather. 

Again, it makes me wonder how the early settlers survived.  Just think of all they didn't have, even just in the warmer clothing that we have.  Warmer shoes.  Waterproof.  Materials that dry quicker.  I am not going to go on and on.  These thoughts just always cross my mind at times like this.

We are watching this show about owls.  This is only a short clip...I wish it was the entire show.  It is so interesting to watch.  

Well, just wanted to let everyone know that things looked good today.  Will try to finish catching up on my visiting tonight and tomorrow.

Oh, one additional thing...thanks to all who admitted they look in lighted windows at night.  I had always wondered if I were the only one.  I don't think Roger even thinks about making an effort to look in...I guess it is a woman thing.

More birds and the Friday 5--

I thought before I got into the Willy Nilly Friday 5 that I would post these bird shots...showing Mrs. Cardinal and friends to begin with.

I don't remember if this is two different females or if it is the same one...this shot is very grainy, but I still like it.

Are just a couple more shots of part of the masses that visited yesterday.

It sure has been a busy place out there...today was cowbird day.  I did not take pictures, but I know there was at least 50, if not 75 down there at one time.

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Now it is time for Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 5   This is going to be really random...have not given it any thought again.  Other than a couple things.

1. When we come home and it is night time, I always like peeping in lit windows as we pass.  Will anyone else admit to doing this or am I the only one?  I don't know why the night time makes me think about this more...but when I see the lit windows, I wonder do happy people live there, or are they going through heartaches and sicknesses.  Are they an older couple or are they young and just beginning life.  Just a million questions go through my mind, but the funny thing is, it leaves me feeling sort of sad.

2.  This also leads me to thinking about all the living that goes on around us...just in our neighborhood even.  And we know nothing about it.  When we were younger, we knew our neighbors better, knew what was happening, what their worries were...what was good.  

3.  I had Walk On by U2 in my head forever just a bit back...was there in my mind well over a week.  I had just stopped having it go round in my head and I saw this post by Lavender Dreams.  One of her last lines in the post is Walk on!  I am afraid it will get stuck again if I don't find something to replace it. It belongs to that list of songs I call Orchard Songs...songs I probably listened to a ga-zillion times when working at the orchard.

4.  Maybe I will replace it with
Good to Be Home by The Everybodyfields.  It is my all time favorite song...I know I have said it before but hoping someone new will see this.

                        

 This video was made by my brother with pictures from in and around home....so much of the area you see in this video was my playground when I was a kid.  When I came Indiana, I think one of the very hardest things about it was not having the freedom to roam that I did there.

5.  Roger has a test at the hospital tomorrow.  We have to be there at 8:30...say a prayer for all things to be okay.

It will probably be tomorrow evening before I get to visit...

Linking to:  Willy Nilly Friday 5

At the feeder...

It is bitter cold here...did not even get in the teens today.  The birds were busy....

They would all flock in...and all flee at the same time.

Not going overboard with photos...will post a few more another day.

All of these have been cropped and played with.  They were taken through my dining room window.

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It has been an odd sort of day.  The wind has blew all day....it would blow the snow sideways.  And act like a regular blizzard was setting in.  Then in two or three or four minutes, the sun would pop out, there would be vivid blue skies, with big puffy clouds.  I am sure to the north and west was probably clouds...but this window faces south.

Then the sun would disappear and we would have blizzard type weather again.  But only for the very few minutes.  Then back to the sunshine and blue skies.  I don't know how many times it did that but all evening.  I think it stayed sunny just a bit longer than it was blizzard type weather.

If I Were

Mama Squirrel

If I Were...

I saw this activity on another blog and thought it would be fun to do myself and fun to challenge others to do.   I copied and pasted it, and forgot about it for years.  I just happened to come across it today.



So, here goes:

If I were a month I’d be October.


If I were a day I’d be Thursday.


If I were a time of day I’d be 7:00a.m..


If I were a font I’d be Papyrus.


If I were a planet I’d be Saturn...


If I were a direction I’d be really screwed cause I would be going between the North and the South....all things north appeal to me....but South because the minute I have to call a business in the south and hear that southern voice, I feel home.

If I were a piece of furniture I’d be a recliner.


If I were a liquid I’d be a home canned tomato juiced.


If I were a gemstone I’d be a an opal.


If I were a tree I’d be a sweet gum in autumn or pink dogwood in spring.


If I were an element I’d be gold.


If I were a tool I’d be a sewing machine.


If I were a flower I’d be an iris.


If I were an element of weather I’d be a summer storm.


If I were a musical instrument I’d be a mandolin.


If I were a colour I’d be yellow.


If I were an emotion I’d be joy.


If I were a fruit I’d be a pineapple .


If I were a sound I’d be the sound of Lorelei's laughter.


If I were a car/truck I’d be the a Toyota Tundra.


If I were a food I’d be Southern style cornbread--the kind made without sugar.


If I were a place I’d be a beloved home.


If I were material I’d be cotton.


If I were a taste I’d be salty.


If I were a scent I’d be honeysuckle, woodsmoke, or new mown hay.


If I were a body part I’d be sparkling eyes .


If I were a song I’d  be "Good to Be Home" by the Everybodyfieds

If I were a bird I’d be a Northern Harrier.


If I were a gift I’d be under a Christmas tree.


If I were a city I’d be sad--no matter where I live I will always feel like I am a country girl.... .


If I were a door I’d open into a log cabin.


If I were a pair of shoes I’d be earth shoes.


If I were a poem I’d be about autumn.

OK, so who is next????

If you choose to do this, let me know...I for sure don't want to miss what others have to say....I am sure there will be answers I wish I had thought of.

Lorelei and her quilt

This was taken a while after she had received her quilt...how I wish I could have had a picture of her the minute she pulled it out of the bag.

When she asked me for a heart quilt, I was fine with it.  But at that time she thought I should be able to sew it up in a day and mail it to her.  No joke.  I was first of all surprised that she did ask about it every so often.  When I had it all together and on the design wall, she did not seem impressed.

But when she asked about it on the phone the other night, and I told her I was doing the finishing stitches on it, she says, "You are?  Really, Mamaw?  Are you?"  I should have known by that that it would get a good reaction...I forget her words when she pulled it out but she hugged it and her eyes just sparkled.  She said something about having her very own quilt...I did not quite understand since she has two or three others.  Unless it is the fact that this one has flannel backing...

She later wrapped up with it on the floor, and played....then graduated to this chair.  I asked her if it was going to be her couch quilt and she said yes.  

A little something different

We saw this down in Madison, Indiana last fall...I have had the picture ready to post forever and not gotten around to it...at least I don't think I have.

I think it is quite unique...not saying that I like it a lot though.  Yet think the guy that did it is talented and has a good imagination to think of this.

Looking forward to spring

I was trying to hurry and look a couple photos to blogger...so since we are all waiting for spring I though I would post this.  It is a bit past 10:00 p.m. as I type this and it is only 7ºF as I type this!

It is just so cold and the wind just cuts right through a person.  Just too cold for words to describe.  When we came home tonight, the wind had blown the swing about half way across the porch.  It is wood...so you know the wind was strong...
 

I

Somewhere in Indiana

This barn is somewhere here in Indiana...south of us I know that much.  I have searched and searched on Google Earth hoping to find a picture of it till I would know where it is at.  I'd love to find it again.  I'd love to photograph it in better lighting.  This was taken middle of a hot summer day.  We were just rambling around down south...

Then there is the place where these were taken at...again I know the general area.  Actually, have it narrowed down pretty good, but cannot find it again for the life of me.  I can tell the general area from the pictures taken before and after they were taken.

There is this saying I see every now and then that says:

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!

That sure holds true for me sometimes.

Friday 5...

Just a little photo of a church from Parke County I think.  I don't think I have ever posted it.  Just cannot do a post without one of my own pics.

It is that time of the week...one I really look forward to.  Tanya at Around Roanoke hosts the Willy Nilly Friday 5 where anyone that wants can list 5 Random thoughts or in some cases photos, then go to her blog and join the meme.  It is a really fun meme to join...love reading everyone's thoughts and ideas.  So with that being said, here goes.

1.  Do you ever have to do things to remind yourself of other things you need to do.  I have to do this fairly often....the trick is to find something that will make me think and remember.  I very seldom use HOT water for laundry...basically only with towels, and occasionally sheets.  To remind myself to switch the water temp off of hot, I will set the bottle of soap on the lid so I have to move it before I can remove the laundry.  

Same with dryer...I only ever use the cotton/higher heat setting on towels and sheets.  So I set something on the dryer vent to remind me to set the temp back down.  So far, knock on wood, these have worked.   Things that don't work...setting something in plain view with nothing around it till I have to see it.  I think I develop a sort of blindness then...I just don't see those things.

2.  I am reading this:  you can get/see it here.

I have only just started, but think I am going to enjoy it.

3.  I always wonder about our musical tastes....I really liked the song Closing Time by Semisonic...even though I thought it was about a bar.  And I don't drink.  Though in all honesty, some of the lines did not make total sense....but it had that one line that says:  Every new beginning is some other beginning's end.  And I just love that line...it had me for that line alone.  But if you ever listened to the song and thought you knew what it was about then watch the following video...you might get a surprise.


4.  Is anyone watching the new Masterpiece Mystery called Grantchester?  (Right now the link takes you to a page where you can watch the first episode, but the others are available.) It is really good.  Wikipedia says:  Grantchester is a detective drama set in the 1950's Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester near Cambridge, where Local Anglican vica Sidny Chamgers develops a side line in sleuthing--withe the enitially reluctant help of grumpy Detective Inspector Geordie Keating.

5.  Do you like grilled cheese?  And what do you like with it?  When I was getting over the flu during the holidays, I think grilled cheeses saved my life...almost.  LOL  They were one of the few things that tasted good.  I generally use American cheese, but sometimes we get farmer's cheese and use rye bread.....and Sarah was making a grilled cheese and used pepperjack and it looked yummy.  I normally have either dill pickles or tomato soup with mine.  I will eat bread and butter pickles as a last resort.

Lorelei's quilt--finished at last

I don't know for sure just when I started this...but it has been a long process.  It was before Christmas...but how much before I cannot say.  It is so simple to make...big pieces.  And at that the 'hearts' were made from charm packs which means they were already cut to size.  So less work for me.

But the alternate block...I had in my mind chosen the pink that is shown here.  But, I had the opportunity to buy some 'yardage' of fabrics used to make the hearts.  I thought wow, that will be better still.

I chose one you cannot see here...it was light pink with tiny, tiny dark pink flowers.  I doubt they were half the diameter of a dime.  I made a whole set of those blocks.  Anyway, thank God I brought all the blocks up and placed them on the design wall first.  The first set of alternate blocks were like bull's eyes....they drew every bit of attention away from the hearts.  It was like the hearts were the secondary design.

So back down I went and made this set with just the light pink.  I got the whole quilt top together and it has been pin-basted a good while now.  I wanted the quilting to not be heavy, and to not detract from the hearts.  And I spent at least a week trying to decide on something different and in the end just did a loose meandering.  It could have been done at least a week ago if I was not so indecisive....

Strip pits are still busy....

We ran to Paris today...Paris, Illinois that is.  On the way home, we drove through the strip pit area.  The pond above it huge...I keep meaning to get a rough measurement of it by seeing how long the road is that runs sort of parallel to it.  Using the zoom lens compresses it so that you just don't the real feel of it.  Anyway, I think there were  more swans on it than were on it the the other day.  As you can see the ice is all gone here.

The rest of these are taken at a much smaller pond that is right beside the road.  We paused and I rolled down the window to try to take a few photos.

They first started to gradually swim away....

then they started to fly away so we took proceeded on our way.

I saw this pair of swans and had Roger stop while I snagged a couple pics.  This one has been cropped a little bit.  Remember to click the photo to view a larger image.

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I finished sewing the binding down on Lorelei's quilt tonight!  I hope to wash it tomorrow.  I never give a quilt away without washing it first. I am so glad to have it done for her.  It has really surprised me that she still asks about it...it has been quite a while ago that I first told her I would make it for her.

Eagles from Sunday drive

We were driving along a muddy old back road when Roger says, "What's that over there?'  I could not tell with my naked eye alone...I zoomed in as close as I could and saw that it was two Bald Eagles.  The one on the right is a juvenile.  It looks like its head is dirty, but if you click to expand the view, I think you can tell that it is not dirt.  We were also looking through Roger's spotter scope so we are sure of this.  This picture is cropped and is the best I could do...it will open up fairly big if you right click on it and click open in new window.
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I have been sewing more today...am now to the last part of Lorelei's quilt:  flipping the binding to the back and sewing it down by hand.  And it is a good thing.  When we talked to her tonight she wanted to know if I had finished it yet!

One of the best happenings of our life

 Trying to pick out just a few pictures of her is almost impossible..

She found her Pink Princess identity early on

We would not have her any other way

She is a constant source of joy

She helps her daddy work on cars

She has fun with her mom

And she helps Papaw with what ever he is going..

Happy Birthday, Lorelei Rose.

Just a little pretty flower to share from the archives.
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It has been a beautiful day, but all I have done is sew.  And not even too much of that.  I need to make the binding for Lorelei's quilt and get the quilt finished.

I keep playing with crumb blocks, but when I get Lo's quilt done, I have other projects waiting.  I have got to take myself in hand and get really busy.  I also need to get back to decluttering.  I did get rid of a few items this weak, but not enough to brag about.  Tomorrow is a new day....who knows what it will bring.

Ready for green, ready for spring....

This is from up in Parke county...looking back towards the Narrows Covered Bridge.  You can barely see it on past the regular bridge.  

It was not bad today...and even supposed to be up in the 50's before the weekend is over...but I still cannot wait for shirtsleeve weather.

Don't get me wrong, I would not be mad if we had a good snow, but if it isn't going to snow, then I vote for spring.  How about you?