I raise my cucumber by planting them near the fence...then the vines climb the fence and the cucumbers hang down like this. I got that idea from two places--I think Victory Garden has shown the idea of planting vines with upright supports.

Also, my former boss always told the story of someone one in his childhood hometown that raised pumpkins by growing them up a tree...they would get so big he would have to wire a bushel basket to hold the weight. My boss just could never get over it...


Guess you can tell I have my camera back! I was so excited to get the kids home that I could not sleep Friday night. My daughter knows me well--she got me 4 books from/about Alaska:
1. A Schoolteacher of Old Alaska...The Story of Hannah Breece I have read this one but will read again.
2. No End In Sight: My Life as a Blind Iditarod Racer
3. Alaska's Wolf Man: The 1915-55 Wilderness Adventures of Frank Glaser ( I have wanted this book for a LONG time.)
4. The Best of Robert Service (his poem The Spell of the Yukon is my favorite of all time. http://www.geocities.com/heartland/bluffs/8336/robertservice/spell.html )

On top of that my DH has been having problems with his diabetes. Then he got something in his eye and we had to go to the doctor yesterday to get that removed. It has not been a fun time around here.

His sugar just is not coming under control...he has not been eating right for sooo long. I think yesterday was the first day he didn't eat too many carbs. I really don't know what to expect.

First let me say that this is just a jumble of thoughts...no specific theme. I have no excuses for not posting anything other than I feel like I have nothing interesting to post. I am still feeling lost without my camera...but that will be over soon. We pick my daughter and husband up at the airport Friday night.

I had company from Tennessee Monday...my brother and his wife. And she was my best friend before they were married. Such a nice visit. I wished it could have been longer. Sometimes I still long to live in Tennessee, yet I just don't want to live that far away from our children. So here we sit.

I have been slowly but surely making a few 9-patches every day. I am still undecided about what I am going to do with them. I will have to play around on Quilt Pro and see what I like. I have always thought I would do just a simple 9-patch quilt sometime, set on point, alternated with a plain square of fabric but maybe start out with one kind of fabric in the center and vary it as I work out.
I just wanted to share something--this is my collection of batiks in 2005! When I get my camera back I will try to spread out the collection I have now...I keep adding a half yard here and a half yard there. it still isn't a huge collection compared to some but I think I have a good start. I just have trouble using them for anything. They are just too beautiful.

Someone on one of the quilt forums reminded me I needed to make one (thanks Kim:-)...and with the story behind this it does need one. This is not the greatest picture....I really need to make a place to hang quilts to take their picture. Just cannot come up with where that is going to be.

How do people decide what to make next in quilting...every time I finish something I have the most horrible time deciding what I want to start on next. I always think I am just going to go start cutting but the choices are so great that it is hard to do.

However, I did start cutting 2 1/2 inch squares tonight...out of some of my not so loved anymore stash. A lot of those are Joann Fabric materials, though some are not. Right now I am cutting a lot of blues and browns...more browns than anything.

My DH came up with the idea that I wanted to go to Arthur, IL today...and I never refuse that trip. (Arthur is an Amish community.) I go to two places over there: Miller's Dry Goods and Stitch and Sew. Miller's Dry Goods is out in the country which makes for a pleasant drive. They have all kinds of fabric including polyester from ages ago. They do not have electricity so I tend to get kind of frustrated looking at the material...you just cannot see with the gas lighting. They also have a lot of stuff the dime stores used to carry.

Stitch and Sew is my favorite shop over there...it is not huge, but has a pretty good selection. I did come home with some fabrics that could be classified as lights--I have the hardest time picking out lights. My stash is 90% medium to dark. I added yellow to the last two quilt tops I have worked on, no make that three--it is the only thing that kept them from being one big boring mess. If I ever get my desk fixed for my Juki, I will probably machine quilt them next.