A Little Catching Up

It’s the last Friday of the month, which means I can share the block I made for my Facebook handquilting group’s BOM.  This month’s theme was hexies … well, you all know that I do love hexies.  I was tempted, for a moment, to use the last Martha Washington’s Flower Garden block I’m working on, but I realized that would defeat the whole point.  The purpose of the BOM is to grow and even experiment as quilters.  Not to mention that I’m hoping to be able to turn my monthly blocks into a sampler at some point.  I spent some time trying to figure out how to incorporate a hexie block into that future sampler … and decided that I’d applique the block onto a piece of the background fabric.  I was a little apprehensive about that since other than a class sampler which didn’t turn out very well, I’ve never done any applique.  Now that I’ve finished the block, I realized that this little flower was probably a pretty good choice for a first applique since the basting kept the seam allowances turned under so I didn’t have to worry about how to turn under the edges or have to fuss with waxed paper and/or starch.  Like I said, this was my first “real” applique,and I’m not displeased with how it turned out. 
I still need to trim the block down (I chose to cut it larger than I needed to have a little margin for error) and to trim the excess fabric from behind the little flower.  I used 1” hexies for this … I would have really rather used smaller hexies, but by the time I decided what I was going to do, I ran out of time to order smaller hexies from Paper Pieces.

Yesterday I got to have some one-on-one time with T#4.  The rest of her family went to Six Flags with friends … she’s just too little to have a good time there, although she sure wanted to go with.  Nana tried to make her day a pretty special one, and I think I succeeded.  We visited Pottery Hollow … she chose a fish, and I chose a little box.  She wanted to have lunch at McDonald’s … not so much for the meal (although she was excited about getting a Happy Meal) but for their indoor playground.  When we got home, we baked a small batch of brownies and played. 

Remember my frustration over realizing that I didn’t have enough red hexies for connectors for my Martha Washington’s Flower Garden?  I was *sure* that I had more but I couldn’t find them, so I could only assume that I didn’t have enough.  Well, guess what?  I was searching for the fabric and unfinished blocks for the Pat Speth project I started at our guild retreat last month (I need to purchase fabric to finish that project – setting triangles, sashing, borders – so I wanted to take some of the fabric and blocks with me to Homestead Hearth to audition suitable fabrics) … and found more hexies!    I need to count them to see if I have enough … I’ll be surprised because I didn’t even have half of what I needed and it doesn’t seem like there are that many more … but I’m going to cross my fingers and hope for enough. 

Speaking of Homestead Hearth, we’ll be making the trek there as soon as DH gets home from breakfast out with our neighbor.  Of course, going to Homestead Hearth means that I will not get back to my Kiss quilt until Monday (All-Star swim championships tomorrow and T#3’s birthday party on Sunday) … but I will be able to get in some stitching on my EPP bow ties, so I won’t be going through total needle-and-thread withdrawal over the next couple of days. 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy

More Tuesday Trivialities

It sure feels good to be back home and back into our normal routine.  Actually, it’s a fairly new routine because DD is done with her classes for summer semester, so I’m not on Nana Duty Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday.  Not that I won’t be called to Nana Duty … in fact, I’ll be watching the kiddos tomorrow while DD visits her former step mom.  And I’ll be watching our Little Miss while her Mama and older siblings go to Six Flags with friends on Thursday.  So I won’t have to go too long between times spent with my grands. 

DH and I had a nice long chat on our way home Sunday about our trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  While his focus was to drive the entire Parkway, he realizes now that the trip could have been so much more enjoyable had we taken the time to see some of the wonderful sights along the way.   

When we travel to new places, we always try to find a jigsaw puzzle as a souvenir of our visit.  I broke open the puzzle yesterday morning and here’s what I was able to accomplish in an hour or two.It isn’t too difficult a puzzle to work, which is just as well as there is a lot of sky and ground that are always tougher areas to put together.  This is a view of the Linn Cove Viaduct, one of the highlights of our trip. 

I also finished up the BOM for my hand quilting Facebook group.  Friday is the day we can reveal this month’s blocks, so I’ll share here once I’ve shared on Facebook.  This month’s block included a first for me, and all in all, I’m pleased with how it turned out.

DH suggested that we drive over to Homestead Hearth since there’s nothing on our calendar today.  I think that I shocked him when I declined … I’m just not up for getting back in the car to drive 2.5+ hours (one way) – even for fabric!    I know, it shocked even me.  Perhaps Friday or some day next week.  I am anxious to get the fabric, but I certainly don’t need it today … later this week or earlier next week will be more than soon enough.  We’ve still got a little over a month before we head to Hilton Head, so I’ve got ample time to get the fabric cut for hexies. 

Summer has returned – with a vengeance!  We’re back in the mid 90s with heat indices well over 100.  I think it’ll be a good day to stay inside, crank up the A/C, work a little on our puzzle, and do some quilting. 
 
I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy

Home, James

... actually "home, Charlie". Ha!  We are on our way home.  After two days in the car from breakfast until dinner (and late dinners at that), we finally decided that a shorter day in the car was the best idea. We still have a ways to go before we get home (8+ hours, but we have the advantage of moving from the eastern time zone to the central time zone), so we should be home tomorrow with enough time to unpack and settle in.

I mentioned earlier that I'm not a big fan of car rides for the sake of driving, so I had misgivings about this trip.  And I have to confess that there were times when I would have said "yes" in a heartbeat, if DH had asked if we should head home.  But there were times when all that time in the car was worth it.  All in all, I'm glad we made the trip.  I hope DH enjoyed it, as I'm not sure if I'll ever be up to a road trip like this again.  Ha!

We left late Wednesday afternoon and made it to Paducah in time for a late dinner ... just before the rain came through.  Thankfully (?) Hanock's of Paducah was closed. Ha!  We hit the road Thursday morning ... I was able to get in a few hours with my needle and thread.  You get a little sneak peek at my July BOM for my Facebook group ... I'll share the finished block after the reveal on Facebook.

After I finished that, I moved on to work on my 4" EPP bow ties.  I got a few done before we hit the mountains and the hand stitching was set aside. 

We stayed on the Parkway Thursday night at a delightful Inn. We had a gorgeous view of the mountains from our room and from our own private balcony.

Dinner at their restaurant also featured equally fabulous views ... and spectacular meals as well.  If we had returned home Friday morning, the trip would have been a success in my books.

While the rain moved on by Friday morning, it left behind low-lying clouds which hindered some of our views. Thankfully the clouds lifted and we were able to get in some spectacular views.

Including the Linnville Falls

And the Linn Cove Viaduct

 

By mid-afternoon, we were both ready to call it a day, but we were still almost 3 hours from the hotel we'd made reservations at.  Thankfully we made it ... and crashed for the night.  

This morning, we slept in (until 7:30!) and took our time getting ready before hitting the Parkway again. We made it to Natural Bridge

before heading over out for home.  

Some thoughts about our trip:  Both DH and I were surprised that there weren't more lodging or dining establishments on/close to the Parkway.  Friday morning, we passed one inn with a restaurant just a couple of hours from where we stopped Thursday night ... it was still at least an hour and a half before we were ready to start thinking about lunch and definitely not ready to stop for the night. There was another inn beyond where we stopped Friday evening ... we pushed ourselves to make it to our hotel (a few miles off the Parkway) so there was no way we could have made it further. 

We were both a little disappointed with the Virginia portion of the Parkway. The terrain was a lot more like what we would encounter in southern Illinois, just a couple of hours down the road from us. It was pretty ... rolling wooded hills, but it wasn't what we were expecting in the Blue Ridge Mountains, nor what we'd seen on the North Carolina portion of the Parkway. Truthfully, the views on our drive home on I-81 in Virginia and I-64 in Virginia and North Carolina were more spectacular than the views on the Parkway in Virginia. 

Most of all, this trip confirmed that I'm a "beach gal", not a "mountain gal" and that I'm not a "road trip gal" (hauling our stuff in and out of the car each evening got old in a hurry ... I prefer to get where I'm going, unpack and settle in, even if for just a few days).  But DH had been dreaming of this for several years now, and I'm glad that he's been able to cross this off his bucket list.  

Now, I'm going to take it easy, watch my Cardinals and stitch some bow ties.  

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy

   

Tuesday’s Trivialities

 

I mentioned Sunday that I couldn’t decide between quilting on my Kiss quilt or working on my Martha Washington’s Flower Garden.  I decided to quilt … I continue to make progress.  I’m working my way around the outer edges … I’m almost done with the 2nd of the 4 outer edges.  When I’m done with the 4th outer edge, I’ll have the final 2-3” along the outer edges to quilt (I save that last couple of inches so I can get out my border hoop). 

 

After dinner I decided to trim my connector hexies … I start with a 2.5” square of fabric and then trim the excess after I’ve basted.  Here’s an example: It’s much easier to cut 2.5” squares of fabric, and the extra fabric gives me a little more margin for error, something that I find useful since I usually do my basting in situations where I might not be able to focus intently on lining up my papers, such as in the car on our road trips or at swim meets.  Trimming the edges is also fairly mindless work, something easily done in the evening, sitting in my recliner while watching the game with DH.

 

Anyway, I pulled out my basted connector hexies and was shocked to see how few there really were.  I found the rest of the 2.5” squares waiting to be basted, but there didn’t seem to be all that many of them either.  Will I have enough??  I counted my blocks and estimated how many connectors I would need for the 51 blocks I have done and then counted my hexies/fabric squares.  Yikes!  I’m nowhere close … I have enough to connect 20 blocks.  Of course, this is old fabric from my stash, and my Google search pulled up zero hits.  I guess I’ve got more fabric to add to my shopping list … in addition to fabric for the setting triangles for the Pat Speth quilt I started at retreat last month, I now need fabric for connectors for my MWFG.  Don’t worry … those hexies that I’ve already basted won’t go to waste (very little goes to waste with us quilters ha!) … I’m thinking of finding a nice green (on my shopping trip since my green stash is sorely lacking) and making a Christmas table topper/runner.  Not in time for Christmas 2015, but perhaps Christmas 2016. 

 

Yesterday was spent with my Ts … this is DD’s last week for 2 of her 3 classes, and it’s crunch time.  She needed a study day, so I took the Ts off her hands.  The girls and I headed up to the library, and the boys stayed home to play. 

 

Today will find me at DD’s most of the day as she has her afternoon class on Tuesdays.  I always stick around for a couple of hours afterwards to have some time with her and the Ts.  When I get home this evening, I’ll start packing for our road trip … our plan is to leave tomorrow after I get home from watching the Ts … if we can get a few hours under our belts tomorrow evening, we will be able to hit the Parkway by mid-afternoon Thursday and get a few miles on it under our belts before stopping for the night.  While driving in the car for hours and hours is more DH’s “thing” than mine (if I’m going to be in the car for hours and hours, I want to end up at the beach – ha!), I’ll admit that I’m really looking forward to this trip.  What we’ve seen of the Blue Ridge Mountains (from a distance) on our travels tells me that we’ll have some beautiful views, and there are several stops along the Parkway that I’m looking forward to.  And I am hoping that we’ll encounter a quilt shop or two as well. 

 

I doubt that I’ll be online much on this trip … maybe a photo or two shared on Instagram.  But I’ll be sure to report in when we get home.  Until then, I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy

Slow Sunday Stitching

 

 

It’s most definitely going to be a slow stitching day here at Chez Nana.  After all the excitement, drama and heat of yesterday, I think a lazy day at home is definitely on the agenda!  Especially since this coming week will be another busy one.  If the old saying “no rest for the wicked” is true, then I must be very, very wicked.  ha!

 

Yesterday was the summer swim conference’s championships, and as I mentioned, all three Ts qualified.  We were at the pool by 7:15, and it was 5:30 by the time I headed back home. 

 

T#3 has been begging for a pair of swim briefs all summer long, so when Mama found a pair in his size at 75% off, he got his wish!  Obviously they must have helped make him faster because he scored the most points for any swimmer in the 8 and under boys group … he won 2 events and finished 3rd in the remaining individual event and helped his relay team take 1st.  Another trophy for his growing collection.  T#1 had a good meet, scoring the 3rd most points for any swimmer in the 13-14 y.o. boys group.  … pretty soon those boys are going to need another room for their swim trophies/medals!  Poor T#2 didn’t have her best meet ever … I think the heat got to her, and the splint didn’t help either.  Thankfully the splint will be off by the time winter swim starts up, so hopefully she’ll pick up where she left off last winter.

 

The Ts’ team fared well, winning the Conference championship for the first time in the 36-year history! 

 

It was a HOT day yesterday … the high was 94 with heat indices well over 100.  Thankfully DH and I set up our chairs at the top of the ridge under a large tree, so we had plenty of shade and a nice breeze blowing much of the time.  We were just a few feet away from the bleachers, so we didn’t have to trudge through the heat and sun to watch the swimmers.  I will say that I was so thankful to get in the van and crank up the A/C for the drive home.

 

Which wasn’t without its own drama.  I was about halfway home when I got a flat tire.    In hindsight, I think the tire was slowly losing air even on the trip to the pool that morning.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to drive too far to a small town so I could pull off into a bank parking lot.  Alas, I didn’t have my purse with me, so I didn’t have my AAA card, and my efforts to Google the roadside assistance number were futile … I gave up and called DH (who’d left the meet to go to the annual picnic hosted by a social group he belongs to).  He drove me home, grabbed his AAA card and headed to the van.  By 10:30 last night, we had the tire changed and the van back home.  Of course, we’ve only got a little donut tire on so tomorrow, DH will be taking the van to get it a new tire. 

 

I’m trying to decide whether to continue on my MWFG (now that the light bulb has turned on for adding the connector hexies) or to get back to quilting my Kiss quiltDecisions, decisions. 

 

It’s going to be another busy week this coming week.  DD has her final week of in-class sessions, so I’ll be getting some T-time Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  And DH and I will be hitting the road as soon as I get home Wednesday … we’ll be traveling along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Our plan is to start at the southern terminus Thursday afternoon and hit I-64 at the northern terminus on Saturday late afternoon/early evening.  There’s nothing on our schedule for Monday, so if our road trip takes a little longer than planned, no big deal.  I’ll definitely be taking along my MWFG for some handwork along the way. 

 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy

So Busy?

 

I can’t believe it’s been over a week since I last blogged.    Things have been just crazy busy here at Chez Nana … my head starts spinning when I try to think about it. 

 

Our weekend was fairly slow and quiet … I was able to get in a good bit of quilting both days.  But once we hit Monday, things accelerated at break-neck speed.  Monday evening was the final summer “regular season” swim meet … and once again, we had rain.  Thankfully the rain came late enough in the meet that they could put the meet in the books.  No make up meet – whew!  And it’s a good thing because the conference championships are today.

 

Tuesday DD, the 4 Ts and I had a fabulous day together.  We hit up the Build a Bear store to make minions before we head out to the “movie-ater” to see the Minion Movie (“movie-ater” was how T#3 used to say “movie theater”).  T#1 decided that he wasn’t too old yet for a minion and chose Stuart; T#2 chose Kevin, and T#3 chose Bob.  T#4 couldn’t be bothered with minions and chose an Elsa bear (to keep her Anna bear company).  The Ts loved the movie … I found several parts to be laugh-out-loud funny and a few parts that could have easily found their way to the editing room floor.   I did love the soundtrack for the movie and will confess that I was singing along to Got to Get You Back in My Life at the end (softly … and off key no doubt). 

 

That evening, DD  found out that her former step mom was readmitted to the hospital … they weren’t (and so far still aren’t) sure whether it was methotrexate toxicity or PCP, a pneumonia caused by a common fungus.  Right now they’re leaning toward PCP but will find out more once they get the results of the bronchoscopy done Thursday morning.  Thankfully much of the treatment is the same, and they’ve also started her on the antifungal that should treat PCP.  DD spent most of Wednesday and all of Thursday with her at the hospital, which meant that Nana had plenty of T-time. 

 

Wednesday we helped my dad with his monthly shopping excursion.  DD found friends who could take the 3 bigs to swim practice and watch them afterwards until I got back from my dad’s so we took #4 along with us.  She did a fine job of entertaining my dad when we got back to his house, but her early morning get-up for practice meant that she was getting awfully tired not long after lunch … we left earlier than originally planned because a tired T#4 means either one who gets a little too squirrelly or a little too cranky, and we didn’t want to wear out our welcome. 

 

Thursday I took the swimmers to their final practice of the summer … T#4 and I went on a secret mission – to see if any of her siblings made it in the local paper (published once/week).  And sure enough, T#3 made the paper (forgive the poor quality, it’s a picture of the paper taken with my iPhone).  His brother is almost always in the paper, so it was nice to see him get some props. Hopefully his sister will have a better summer swim (as in no broken arm) next year and will make the paper, too.After we got back to the pool, we went for a brief walk while waiting for practice to end.  We saw this delicate hydrangea bloom on our walk … #4 was so disappointed that she couldn’t pick the flower.#1 went to a friend’s house after practice for a pool party – I guess he didn’t get quite enough time in the pool this week.  #2 brought a friend home after practice … they spent most of their time in the family room in the basement, doing whatever 11-12 year old girls do.  ha!  #3 and #4 kept Nana entertained by having her join their Minecraft game.  The things we grandmas do for our grands.  ha!

 

Friday was a quiet, relaxing day … sort of.  I went back to my eye doctor’s office to get the corrected lenses put in my new glasses … it’s amazing how much better I see now. I spent the afternoon getting caught back up on things around the house … laundry, dusting, sweeping.  A squishy package was delivered – Christmas in July!  I’m always on the lookout for plaids (I’d like to make a plaid quilt one of these days when I can get enough plaids).But there was still a little time to get reacquainted with my needle and thread.  Remember my Martha Washington’s Flower Garden?  I picked it back up and worked on the final full block.  I wasn’t able to get it finished since I spent my evening with T#4 who had a sleepover here at Nana’s. 

 

Today will be an especially hot, muggy day spent watching our swimmers compete … all three qualified for the conference championships, and even though her times are all down a little (thanks to the broken arm – first a cast and then a splint), T#2 is “swimming up” - with the 13-14 y.o. girls - for 2 of her events.  The top 6 swimmers for each event at the championship will qualify for the “All Star” competition in two weeks … T#1 and T#2 both qualified last summer, but thanks to that broken arm, I suspect that T#2 won’t qualify this summer. 

 

I suspect that we’ll be spending tomorrow getting cooled off and getting in some much-needed R&R (IOW, time with my needle and thread). 

 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy

Some of This and Some of That

Silly me ... I thought that once we got through June (which was in the top three of the wettest Junes on record in these parts), we'd be done with all. this. rain.  It's rained every day this week ... a lot.  So it's no surprise that we're losing the battle to keep our tomatoes and cucumbers alive and thriving.

Pretty pathetic looking, eh?   Our neighbor is reporting the same sorry state in his garden.

But thankfully some of our garden is flourishing with all this rain.  My hydrangea is looking as good as it has since I planted it.

Our green beans are also thriving.

(Ignore those puny tomatoes in front.  Ha!). And my hostas as doing well, too.

As is our lawn, which needs mowing yet again.  It's still too wet from last night's rain to mow yet ... hopefully it'll dry out enough to be mowed before the next front moves through.

We had the third of three swim meets in three days last night.  Once again, I had to wear jeans and a hoodie ... who knew that in July I'd be wearing jeans and a sweatshirt to a swim meet?     The Ts did well ... T#1 swam well, going head to head against a swimmer who's always "had his number" ... T#1 was determined in the 200 IM to take that race, and he did, coming from behind in the last lap to go ahead.  It was exciting.  T#2 swam up in two events - not in the next age group up, but all the way to the 15-18 y.o.  And held her own, finishing second in the 100 Breast!  And T#3 won all of his events.  Woo hoo!  Can you tell that I'm one proud Nana? 

We stopped at Five Guys for dinner (it was on the way and I'll confess that I'd been having a hankering for a cheeseburger) and allowed a little too much time. No problem for Nana and Papa who are "old pros" at this swim meet business ... DH read the book he brought along, and I worked on my EPP bow ties. 

I don't get to stitch much during the meets since with three swimmers, there's not much "down time" for us between their events ... and I have to pay attention, lest I miss an event.

I got my glasses Wednesday, but there's a problem with the location of the progressive bifocal and with a special anti-glare coating, designed to cut glare from electronic devices (computers, iPads, etc.) and to reduce risk of macular degeneration (which is a bit of concern because both maternal grandparents and both maternal aunts suffered from it). Unfortunately the glare from any light source creates a purplish tint to the lenses (thus no photo of me modeling my new glasses).  This morning they remeasured for the bifocal and will be getting new lenses cut. It should take a week to ten days ... hopefully they'll be here before we set off on our Blue Ridge Parkway road trip. 

So far, it looks like we've got a quiet weekend coming up, but something tells me that it won't end up that way.    DD has finals coming up for two of her classes, so I suspect I'll be getting some T time so she can have some study time. A win-win situation, for sure. 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy

Watery Wednesday

 

Watery because it’s raining and will be raining, according to the meteorologist, all. day. long.    And watery because there will be another swim meet tonight … a make-up meet for one of the earlier rainouts.  This will be an out-of-town meet, even though the rained-out meet was a home meet … the other team refused to drive up the 30 minutes up here for the make-up meet.    Never mind that our team will have to drive the 30 minutes to their pool.  Go figure. 

 

There’s a possibility that tonight’s meet may be rained out as well … not because of the rain (they swim right through the rain … they’re already wet anyway, right?  ha!), but because there are thunderstorms forecast for this evening.  The original meet was rained out because lightning was spotted and they will not allow the swimmers to be on the pool deck, let alone in the pool, when there’s lightning in the area.  Last night’s meet was held, even though it rained most all evening and was cold (it was 66 by the time the meet was over).  At least it wasn’t the torrential downpour like we had at a meet last month … the attendees were wetter than the swimmers by the end of the meet (at least the swimmers brought towels to dry off with after the meet).    I thought I dressed warmly last night (sweatshirt and jeans), but I’ll be adding another layer for tonight’s meet as it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much warmer tonight … although the temperatures will be rising rather than falling like they did last night. 

 

I had a very pleasant surprise last night, when one of my regular readers, Glenda from Florida, came up and introduced herself to me.  I couldn’t believe that she was able to recognize me (from a distance, no less) and was able to put 2 and 2 together and come up with 4.  She was at the meet to watch her grandson swim (for the opposing team) … who has a broken arm and will be getting a splint this Friday.  It really is a small world! 

 

I mentioned here last month that T#1 broke the team record for the 50 Fly … on a yard pool (i.e., a 25-yard long pool).  The home pool is a meter pool (25 meters long), so he still had the record for the 50 Fly on a meter pool in his sights.  Last night, he broke that record … alas, a teammate (a winter swimmer from another team who decided to join the summer team this year … who turned 15 the day after the cut-off for the age groups) beat T#1 on that event, which means that currently he holds the record.    T#1 turned 13 in February, so there’s a 2-year difference between the two … and there’s still a significant difference between a 13-y.o. swimmer and a 15-y.o. swimmer.  The upside is that this competition will certainly be a powerful motivator for T#1 to push himself and improve his 50 Fly … and if he doesn’t break the new record this season, he has another season in the 13-14 y.o. group, and I am confident that he’ll break it then (and if he breaks it this season, I’m sure he’ll break his own record next summer as he improves). 

 

I think T#2 is a little jealous of T#1’s record-breaking swim … she’s decided that she wants to break a record herself.  She’s chosen the 50 Breast as she’s closest to that record, even though the 50 Fly is a stronger event for her (like T#1, her best stroke is the Fly … T#2 excels at the Breast).  She’ll be wearing her splint for the rest of the summer swim season, and between not having 100% use of her arm and the resistance/weight provided by the splint, I’m not sure she’ll achieve her goal … but she’s determined … and that determination may provide the motivation she needs. 

 

My new glasses are in … as soon as I get this posted, I’ll head up to pick them up. I hate picking out new frames as I’m so “blind” (and my eyes are still dilated from the exam) that I cannot tell what looks good and what doesn’t.  I had DD stop by after my exam to help me choose my frames.  These weren’t her #1 choice, but I wasn’t comfortable with her #1 choice … they might have looked good on me, but they were definite not my style at all.  The ones we agreed on are a nice compromise.  I hope I like them as much as she does. 

 

I “survived” my first newsletter as newsletter editor for my guild.  My predecessor warned me that I’d be scrambling to get all the information I needed from all the committee chairs … she was right!  Some are notorious at ignoring the deadline for information and require multiple follow-ups.    I got the newsletter put together (finally!) and emailed … later than I would have liked (as I was waiting for information) … next month, I’ll be sending out reminders much earlier!  So far, I haven’t gotten any feedback on errors … no news is good news, right?  I won’t be at the next meeting (this coming Monday … there’s a make-up swim meet that evening), so I’ll ask my predecessor if there were any comments at the meeting.  Fingers crossed. 

 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy

She’s Baaaack

I sure wish I could say that I’d been somewhere exciting (say, like Hilton Head? ), but I’ve been here at home.  It’s just been such a busy week (not that this coming week will be much quieter, but more about that later) that I just haven’t had time to sit down and blog. 

My two sisters came in for a visit last week.  We didn’t do anything wildly exciting … probably the most exciting thing we did was upgrade my Dad’s iPhone to an iPhone 6 Plus.  Wow, that thing is huge … I think it’d feel like I was talking on my iPad.  ha!  Even though we didn’t do anything special, it was nice to just be together and get caught up.  DD and the Ts were able to come over on Thursday, after T#2’s cast was removed. She has a splint that she needs to wear when active, but she’s cleared to dive, ride her bike, and all the other fun stuff that she’s been unable to do for the last 8 weeks.

Everyone left Friday evening, and while I definitely enjoyed their visit, I was very glad to be able to get back to my routine.  After getting the house back into order, I spent Saturday “decompressing” … with my needle and thread.  I’m on the outer hoop and a half around the quilt … there’s an end in sight, although the outer “ring” of blocks seems to take as long to quilt as the inner blocks. 

I got in more stitching yesterday as well before it was time to go up to DD’s to watch the Ts so their Mama and Daddy could have a date night.  After dinner, we headed to the park for some fun. You can see the splint on T#2 and the boys’ summer hair cuts.  We saw a mama deer and her two fawns as we left for the park … we were able to drive up alongside them, to see them up close and personal … we wondered if it was the same family we saw a couple of weeks ago.  And as I was getting them ready for bed, we saw a mama deer in their backyard, having dinner at their neighbor’s bird feeder (3 of those photos were taken through a screen, so they’re not as clear as the 4th).

I mentioned earlier that this coming week is going to be busy.  DSIL is going out of town for a week, so I’ll have some extended T-time, especially considering that there will be 5 swim meets between now and next Monday (rainouts have been rescheduled).  Since two of those meets have been scheduled for this coming Wednesday and next Monday, I’ll be responsible for getting them to the meets (both out of town meets), as DD has a night class that meets on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Hopefully, in spite of the busy-ness, I won’t wait another 8 days before checking in here. 

On the garden front, our cucumbers continue to produce a lot of cucumbers … note to self: next summer plant just one plant.    Our tomatoes are not doing well … they have some kind of fungus, so we’ve applied an organic anti-fungal spray … hopefully we can salvage our tomatoes.  Our green beans are thriving and have teeny tiny green beans growing. 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy