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.