A finish of sorts...

We had our Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday for convenience...so Thursday I picked this quilt back up and continued on with the binding.  I laid it in the chair while I went and did something else, and came back to find that Bubbie had dragged it to the floor for something to lay on.

I wrestled it from him and finished it while we watched the Saints Game...

My daughter took it home the next day.  She chose the fabrics and I made the top.  And then she paid to have it quilted.  It has sure been a long road from start to finish.  I cannot even think how many years have passed...



Here shows the top when it was finished in Feb of 2016.  Keep in mind that it took me a while to make the top.  Every where we went, we looked for batik fabrics.   I would guess at what she would like, knowing that if she didn't like them I would be happy to have them in my collection.

Watch this....

Watch this...it is one of the best feel good stories I have seen. 



At the beginning it is Tony Dungy talking...he was Dunn's coach while at Tampa Bay.  Also notice near the end that one of the families he helped, the little boy in red is Dashaun Watson.  A pro-quarterback today for the Houston Texans.

Not going to say any more.  Just wanted to share a wonderful story.  It is only about 3 1/2 minutes long.

Mixed bits....

I don't even know where to begin...so much I want to share but it is all odds and ends of things.  But I am going to proceed or I will end up forgetting something.



I came across the above over at By Stargoose and Hanglands.  I found it so wonderful I had to share.  I will never think of harp music the same way again...and I had never heard of a kora.  It is a West African instrument.

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I came across the above quite by accident.  Talk about a horse loving to do what it does.   Not to mention a great rider!  The bridle comes off, but the horse and rider continue on as if he has all the control in the world, when in reality the horse could have done anything she wanted.  He was disqualified because he put two hands on the reins to pull the bridle up where she could not step on and trip herself or whatever.  But it was her last ride doing this and he wanted to let her finish it the ride.

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I picked this up at the bookstore today...in fact, I paid for it twice.  I thought the total high, but most times I say something and I am wrong...and about half the time it is me thinking that it isn't enough and they have missed scanning something.  I have started trying to hold my tongue.  But I got out to the car and checked the receipt and there it was charged twice.  I took the receipt back in and they refunded the money.

Anyway, it is the first quilt book/magazine I have bought in years.   Anyway, no one I know likes the modern quilts.

Things such as the above....I just love the color and no holds barred approach.  A lot of modern quilts use big blank spaces to let the eye rest such as seen in this quilt.  And it gives room to do some fancy quilting if you want.  But I am not going to go on and on...Modern quilting means different stuff to different people.  I just wanted to show the book.
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We came home from the book store and the New Orleans Saints game was on the TV...I got out daughter's Lotus quilt and set to work on the binding.  I worked on the binding for the rest of the game and for at least an hour or two after the game..  I did one whole side.  So I am half way done.  If I could just work every night that way, it would be done by Thanksgiving.
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I have sat here for half an hour.  I know I am forgetting something.  But maybe it will come back to me and I can use it in another blog post.

In case I don't post again, I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Notes...

I just got home from Walmart a little bit ago and got unloaded.  Roger had the TV on and it was on the music channel and a concert.  It ends up it is a dukes mixture of artists.  First on was Joe Walsh, then I don't remember who was next.  Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  For one.  Then Michael Martin Murphy sang Wildfire, which was bad enough...

Then Richie Furay sang this:



I sat here with the tears streaming...it always makes me cry.  I do not know why.   Is anyone else like that with music...even the theme music to some of the shows we watch either brings tears or makes me feel like crying.  Run for the Roses was written by Dan Fogelberg.  If you don't like the song, shut sound off and watch the slide show of foals and horses.

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Anyway, for some good news.  I went to the dermatologist yesterday and she didn't see anything that concerned her.  She is going to watch one mole.  I refuse to worry about it most of the time in between visits, but come the day or two before and I really begin to dread going.    But I am thankful that I have the holidays free of that worry.

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My leaves are done, as well as the gutters are all clean for one more year.  The guy that we had mow our yard mulched the leaves, and got up and blew out the gutters.  I feel like a ten ton weight has been lifted from me.  It was just always there in my mind.  The gutters more than anything.  The leaves I could have eventually got done by myself.  But now that is nothing to worry about.  And the way the weather has been, it would have been hard to do. 

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I had been looking at this book, then a blogger had this on her blog....I thought I knew who.  Well, I must be crazy cause I could not find it on her blog...so I thought maybe it was on this other blog...but no not there.  Anyway,  I have borrowed Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens from the library and I am really enjoying it.  I always enjoy seeing what other people are reading.

I feel like I am forgetting something but going to go ahead and post this.  I hope you all are having a good week.

What's happening....

I got the binding sewn on my daughter's quilt...just the first round by machine, and have started the hand stitching part.  Normally I can whip through a full or queen in about 3 days, but have not touched this today.  And last night when I started it was no walk in the park.  the thread wanted to tangle, even after using beeswax on it.  It knotted up at every little stitch, and I even had to break it once, and take out stitches enough to thread the needle till I could finish off that bit of sewing till it would not come undone.

I got this fabric panel in the hopes it will inspire a baby quilt...  The way things are going, it is questionable whether I will get anything done any time soon.  but isn't it cute?

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I have been doing things in baby steps it seems.   Cannot seem to totally finish anything.  I got boxes broken down again...still have a few but they would not fit into the box I was using.   I  order some of the pet supplies from Chewy because it saves Roger and I from handling some of the heavier items so many times.   Then there are things we order from Amazon on a regular basis...so we always have quite a few boxes at the end of 4 or 5 months.

I have had to let the leaves go but today got a few more raked up.  Roger kept coming to check on me...it is too hard on him to try to help, but he feels guilty if he don't.  So all I did was 4 big bags.   The leaves were still damp from the snow, and still some snow on the ground out behind the garage because it doesn't get much sun.   We saw ice still on a couple roads today.  I could not believe there was any left any where.

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Roger went to bed with a headache...any time he has one it still scares me so bad.  Specially right at first.  I can usually talk to myself and remember that this is to be expected...but it takes a while to settle down and not be on edge.  Lately he stumbles so easily.  I cannot tell you how many times I have thought sure he was going to fall.  Oh, it may not be every day,  but it probably is every other day.  Besides the fall in the bedroom two or three weeks ago, I think he has only fallen twice...and one of those he fell back on the bed.  So in ways not a fall, but if the bed had not been there, he would have been on the floor.

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It is funny...at night, Bubbie always has to go over to him in his chair but he always comes back to me.  When he was young, Bubbie was all Roger's and our daughter's....I was only needed when he was hungry.  But boy has he changed to a mama's boy.

I guess I will hush for this night....I hope you all have a good week ahead...

memories....

I was washing dishes yesterday, and I got to thinking about my sister, Fran.  The above post card was one she sent in the 1960's...but that is not what I want to write about.  Though how I ended up with it is more than I know.  And it has been in my kitchen cabinet for a long time.  I get it out and touch it and read it every now and then.

Of our family, I think she was the favorite of us all.  Here is one story about her...and I thought I would share another story that again shows how she was.

For a few years when the kids were young, we were living pay check to pay check...I just had to plan every dollar.  Well, this one Christmas, I had to wait till the day before to buy groceries to do Christmas dinner.  I don't remember if I already had the ham or not, because I would buy it ahead if I could catch it on sale.  Well, Christmas Eve was my in-laws wedding anniversay and we had to go there to see them and take their anniversary gift.

I was thinking we could visit with them and run by Kroger's there near them to pick up groceries.  I don't remember if I actually went and left Roger there with the kids, or if I called, or how I found out, but Krogers was closed!  I called our local grocery here in our town, and they were open but would be closed before we could get home.  So I called my sister.

She made a list of what I needed and I told her how much I had to spend.  I don't remember the amount...but every penny was planned.  Well, we visit a bit more and then head home and stop by my sister's to pick up the groceries...I paid her the money and we loaded up and came on home.

My, oh, my what had she done!  I cannot remember what all there was extra...there were mixed nuts, there was ribbon candy, and I don't remember what all else was in the bags.  But she had probably come close to spending twice what I told her.  Just getting things she thought we would enjoy.   And would not think of letting me pay her.

Just such sweet memories.  I hope you have some to share...it would be fun to hear some good, heartwarming stories.

A little show and tell...

This shows the block before I totally finished the applique...  The black basting line is basting the leaf shape to the freezer paper base.  The white stitching stitches the shape to the background fabric.

Showing the stitching...the thread is more orange than it looks in the photo, but not as orange as I wish it were.

Here you see the stitches on the back of the block...

Above you see I have cut the background away from the behind the leaf and am removing the freezer paper.   One thing about this freezer paper, I don't think it is as good as what I used to get.  It does not feel as heavy and makes crinkling sounds.

And here is what it looks like after the basting is all removed and the freezer paper removed.

I have only finished the applique part of a few of them.  All the others I have finished still has the freezer paper and basting in them.  At the rate I am going, it is going to be a long time before I finish them all...have several things going and need to start another one...and yet I do so little.

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I raked a bunch of leaves yesterday...well, 8 big garbage bags stuffed full as I could stuff them.  But that is nothing to what I used to rake at one go.  I had raked 4 a few days ago.  I still have quite a few to go, and keep waiting for the rest of the leaves to fall from a neighbor's tulip poplar and another neighbor's maple tree.  Bubbie was my constant companion through it all.
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I think I am warming up leftover meatloaf for supper...we need to eat on it.  Seems like at times, I love meatloaf and will have made one that is on the small side.  Then I make one a bit bigger, and we don't seem to enjoy it as much.  Anyway, I need to get in there and at least set it out.  I will actually probably put it in the oven later and let it warm up that way.  Most of the time we just warm up what we eat in the microwave.

I should have been outside working in leaves...but I have sat here instead.  And I did sew a few stitches.

I don't know if it was real bad allergies or what, but was sick a couple days this past week...but it passed quickly.  My throat was sore and I blew and blew and blew my nose the first morn.  Normally, Roger never volunteers to stay home for breakfast, but he looked at me and said, 'We don't have to go anywhere this morn....don't even worry about it.'  I don't know if it was how I sounded or how I looked or both.  LOL  I always sound and feel worse early in the morn. 

I hope you all have a good week...I feel like I am forgetting something I wanted to ask but cannot think what it is for the life of me.

Deer season....a funny

Being that hunting season is here, and I have heard it mentioned elsewhere, it brought to mind this story.  It has been published a couple times before,  but whether you hunt or not, I think you might find this at least amusing...maybe even funny.  It is one of the stories that would only happen to my husband.  Or his cousin.

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A friend wrote a story about one of his hunting excursions. Being the wife of a hunter and sister to hunters before that, I could identify with a lot he said. About 5:00 being the witching hour for hunters, or for my husband when he is meeting fellow hunters it is sometimes even earlier. Also, unlike rotten apples to disguise the human smell, hunters now have doe urine. I wouldn't want to mistake that for my perfume, now would I, but that is besides the point.

This is a story of one of my husband's hunting trips. A few years ago he decided to hunt out on property near the orchard where I worked. It actually belonged to the brother of my boss. A day or two before the planned hunting trip, he and his buddy went out to decide where they were going to put their tree stands, and in so doing had to hack out a path through some of the undergrowth.

On the morning of the hunt, they met here before going out there...it is at the most 10 minutes from here. They get out of the truck out there and the farm cat greets them. It is young, not even a year old.  Roger pets it just a second and he and his buddy proceed down the path...they get to the 'y' in the path and his buddy goes one way while he goes they other. The cat follows my husband.

He is hunting with bow and arrows, and hunting from a climbing tree stand. So he gets to the tree he has chosen to use, and gets his tree stand situated on it and climbs up the tree. I am not familiar enough with the process to paint a good picture, but it is a tree stand that he does the physical climbing with. It has two parts....one part is the actual seat and the other is the part he stands on....THIS is a video from you tube and does show how his works.

When climbing up to a tree stand, he always ties his bow to a long rope and once he gets up as high as he is going to go, he pulls the bow up with the rope. He gets the bow up and gets situated...he hears this meow. It is still practically dark, so he kind of looks but doesn't see anything. He sits back, and he hears it again! And he can hear it so plain...he does not have the best of hearing. So he gets his flashlight out and bends way over the tree stand while shining it all around and still doesn't see anything.

He sits back again and hears it again! And he felt something on his legs...he looks down at his feet and there sits the kitty! It had sat by his feet as he climbed up the tree. It proceeded to climb up into his arms, purring all the while, and doing the rubbing thing that cats do when they are happy to see you. He held it out at arm's length and dropped it!

Did it run for home you might ask. The answer would be no. It played around the bottom of the tree my husband was in, chasing leaves or anything else that caught it's imagination. After a while of playing, it climbed out onto a dead log and went to sleep!

This is an honest tale; I don't have the imagination to make something like this up. And this is only the tip of the iceberg--things like this continually happen to my husband, my older daughter, and my husband's cousin.

How sweet is he???

At some point almost every day, this guy snuggles in my lap...and sometimes two or three times a day if I set down.  He spends a lot of time outside, and comes to meet us when we come home.  He will walk in front of us and flop down on the sidewalk and squirms around.  He wants us to play with him.  If we walk around him and go on, he jumps up and runs back in front of us and does it again.

When I am outside doing something, he is usually not far away.  As long as I don't have something that makes a lot of noise.   If I sit down to take a break, all I have to do is say his name or pat my leg and here he comes.

The past year or two, he has started getting in behind the curtain like above.  I would love to know what goes through his mind.   We used to play hide and go seek.  I would run and there is a certain way/beat I pat my legs and call his name and it is Game ON.  Then I remain quiet and let him come hunt me....I jump out and scare him.  He is a jumpy cat...he is so easy to scare.  Anyway, I scare him and he takes off and I run to tag him.
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I raked a few leaves this afternoon...did a load of laundry... a tiny bit of housework...just this and that.  But felt good to accomplish a little.  Leftover chili for our evening meal.  Roger was even content with it.  I don't mind soup at any time but Roger is not crazy about soup in warmer weather.
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This is my current read...O Rugged Land of Gold by Martha Martin.   I saw it as a movie years ago and when it told it was based on this book I looked at the library and believe it or not, they had an old copy of it.  It was hard backed and well worn.  And I read it probably a couple times over the years.   And I told a blog friend about it as well as some of my other favorites.  So in talking to her, I decided I wanted to read it again, so I just ordered my own copy.  And it is as good as I remembered it.