Christmas Mayhem

Does it seem like the Holidays get a little crazier each year? This year Santa actually stopped by our house on Christmas Eve. Jacob received a Nerf Football and was very excited to see Santa. After Santa went off to visit other boys and girls, Jacob put his head in his hands and exclaimed, "Oh no! Santa brought me the wrong present! I wanted a penguin Pillow Pet!".  We tried to explain that Santa would be back during the night and could still bring the penguin but Jacob wasn't too sure. Thank goodness, on Christmas Morning there it was under the tree. 

"I knew it!  Just what I wanted!"  One happy 4 year old. 

**Note jealous dog tail between Jacob and Santa.

In all the pre-holiday craziness, I actually forgot to give Jacob his Cowboy Quilt?!? So for all of you procrastinators out there, keep on!  I wasn't finishing the binding in the wee hours of the morning. If so, the quilt would have been under the tree and probably pushed aside to get to the toys. This way it can be its own presentation and may get a more appreciated reception.

Here is the Country Stitches block #11. After lunch I'm off to pick up the 12th and final block. It's not my colors but I think the blocks will make a nice quilt for my parent's bed. My sister said that's a good idea since the one they are currently using is one she made in the 70's. You'd think with two quilters in the family.....

Foster Fridays

Another generation of Foster Fridays!

Time goes so fast!  It seems like just yesterday that my kids, Irene's kids, Mary Hutchin's twins and Enola's kids were running around the library and playground at Foster on Friday afternoons.  And now we have the next generation.  Foster Community Center is a wonderful resource to have in our community.  A great place for quilters to gather on Friday afternoons.  

Fenner #2

Mr. Pumpkin Face.  I knew there was another photo here someplace.

Fenner Apple Butter Festival

Whew, here I am!  Don't tell any of my perspective employers but I am so technically savvy that when I went to disconnect the charging cord for my IPOD, I pulled out the keyboard cord in error.  Kept tapping those keys and nothing happened!  At least I figured it out myself and didn't call the GEEK Squad (Ian) or anything. That really would have been embarrassing!

On Saturday we went to the Fenner Nature Center Apple Butter Festival. Cubby actually remembered being there last year.  We had to be there by 2:30pm so Cubby could hear his friend Ben (Hassenger) play the guitar. Ben even played Cubby's favorite song: "Jake" of course!

Also saw John P. and Dan B. and Jean C quilting for CCQG.

Cubby got to pet a really big snake! Looks like the snake is either trying to eat Cubby's hat or tell him a sssssecret.

Cubby still likes to cuddle with his mom.  Hold on to those precious moments mom. They go fast!

Gamma Gamma was pretty happy to spend a beautiful fall afternoon in the woods too!

Fall Fun

Last Saturday we travelled to Lowell to the Fallasburg Fall Festival.  It was a blustery, rainy day so I didn't bother with the camera. Despite the weather, we had a great time.  There was a play structure with a 10 foot climbing wall, three slides, a fire pole, a bridge and lots of nooks and crannies, just right for an almost 4 (!!!) year old. We also drew a scary face on a softball sized pumpkin and Cubby had a Jack-O-Lantern painted on his cheek. He's getting to be an old pro at this face painting thing. He managed to get through the day and all the way home before he"accidentally" splashed water on it. 

Look what came home with me! I couldn't resist this happy face. He's going to find a place in my garden if I ever find my garden. Oh, well. There's always next year. For the older crowd, there was an arts and crafts show, music and lots of yummy treats including warm baked apple dumplings with whipped cream ...mmmmm!

 
I won't say it's been awhile since I've mowed but.... look what's growing in my backyard.

Now who planted these?

Fall Into It

Sounds like everyone has the same idea. Now that we've thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful Michigan summer, it's time to get back to indoor creativity. Attended the MQN show yesterday and got "reinspired". "Two Men and a Trunk (and one in trunks)" was hilarious.  Actually came home and cleared off my cutting table (before watching the overtime of the MSU game - wow! - even from a "Blue" fan).

Country Stitches block of the month is due this week. Then there's the Habitat for Humanity small quilt and the Charm attic window challenge. I think this is the first year I have all of my block exchange blocks done  before the last meeting of the year. - hooray!  I'm also determined to learn how to knit socks this winter. 

Time to get movin', movin', movin'!

Blue Bayou

This is a glass sculpture from the recent glass exhibit by Craig Mitchell Smith at the MSU Hort Gardens. It was a beautiful evening. The glass sculptures were incorporated into the gardens - a surprise around every corner. We've decided that this is the same local artist that created the overhead installation in the Riverwalk Theater lobby and the wall sconces on the way into the theater.   It was fun to see the exhibit at MSU and see a Michigan artist get well deserved recognition. On the 24th we're going to see the Chihuly glass exhibit at Meijer Gardens which from Ruth's pictures looks fantastic.

Gennie and I walked this morning before it got too muggy and hot. This hydrangea is growing in you-know-who's backyard. Gennie likes to stop there for a drink and a roll in the lush, cool grass. It's really much "bluer" than this photo.

Cubby's Got Wheels!

Yesterday, Cubby went to the store and picked out his Toy Story big boy bike. I liked the red Disney "Cars" bike with the flames on the side but he wanted Toy Story. This photo was taken with Claire's cell phone. I'm sure Gamma Gamma will take many pictures the next time he shows up in my driveway with his new wheels.

Pharmacy Tech-The Home Stretch

Here's half of the 'Get a Skill, Get a Job' Pharmacy Technician Associate Class. The other half decided not to get in on the frivolities. At 9:30 on a Friday night after a whole week of class and 22 hours working at the pharmacy, you get a little silly. We're at LCC, standing in front of the Horizontal Laminar Flow Hood (which is obscuring half of my face, oh well...). The hood blows air at 90 miles/min outward so that no particles get into any medications that you are mixing in the sterile area within the hood. That's our instructor on the far left in the lovely chapeau.

Only 2 1/2 more weeks to go. I feel like I've lost touch with everybody but as the 'govenator' says, "I'll be back"!

Here's a photo I took awhile ago of Cubby Batman at Post Oak. I think he's already grown several inches since then. Yesterday we went to the Meridian Farmer's Market and took turns being a troll at the Meridian Village Gazebo. (The troll said that I couldn't pass unless I hit 3 imaginary baseballs - I love 3 year old imaginations). Then we stopped by Cindy's to see her kitty and chase the bees out of her yard with Cubby's Black and Decker power sander. I'm not really sure why you chase bees with a sander, but if I were a bee, I'd run.....

Sauder Village 2010

Okay, so I'm a little behind. Finals and all that. I snagged this picture off of Ruth's blog just because I wanted to have a record of our annual trip to Sauder Village. It is always such a great day.

My sister drafted and appliqued a mallard duck block for Deb's block exchange bird quilt. Chris, I thought you might enjoy seeing these geese.

I loved this folk art applique quilt. See the rooster in the bottom row? One of his relatives may find his way into my "chicken quilt". I've been gathering fabric and several ideas have been incubating since December. Black, white, yellow and red polka dots. Stay tuned.

This Piece-O-Cake-esque applique just seemed so fresh to me. Ideas for wool applique maybe?

Herding Cats

Ever try to get a handful of 3 year olds to all do the same thing at the same time? Not the easiest task for sure. Cubby had his second soccer game on Saturday. They ran back and forth and practiced kicking but never actually got around to playing a game. Their opponent, the Green Team was on the other side of the field but it was picture day and there was more chaos than usual. Cubby had his own agenda and had more fun tackling one of his teammates - maybe he thought he was playing rugby?

It was quite the blustery morning but at least the rain had stopped by gametime. After the game we went to the playground at Post Oak (Eileen, we saw Costas and Thomas roaming the neighborhood) and then played hide-n-seek with Gennie. The little ball of energy finally took a 30 minute snooze around 6pm and then was up and ready for more! Gamma and Gennie crawled into bed early Saturday night.

Block of the Month

This is the third (March) block of the month from Country Stitches. Unfortunately, I didn't complete it in time to get the next one free so I had to pay $6 for the April block. I actually kind of like the navy flowered print - what? me? navy blue with flowers?

Only two more weeks of classes and then maybe I can finish some of the quilt projects I have started. I played in my quilt room last night for about and hour and a half after block exchange and it was good to be in the studio again. Gennie even curled up on her comforter and caught a few zzzzzzzs. 

Medical abbrieviations test tonight. Only 3 more exams after this.

 

National Library Week

Happy National Library Week everyone!  Here's a photo of my sister in California and her two collies, Matthew and Timmy supporting the Burbank Public Library.

I was at a jobs networking meeting last week and a woman said that she's always been interested in being a librarian. An IT geek said something negative about books being on their way out.... so I told him there is SO MUCH more going on at libraries than just books.

Check out your local library this week!

Spring Nesting Season

I had a strange visitor to my backyard picnic table last week.  Perhaps migrating back from a warmer climate? Maybe Irene and Jan gave him a heads up on a good place to camp out for the summer. He's very trusting. Cubby thought we should help him build a nest and went around finding twigs and leaves in the yard while carefully avoiding the Gennie land mines. I wonder when the Mrs will arrive at her summer home?

We go on 'CATION?

This week was Spring Break at LCC.  It would have been fun to travel to some exotic, warm, tropical climate but alas that was not to be.  We did make an overnight excursion to Shipshewana, IN, where we spent the night at Splash Universe. Cubby had an absolute ball! The blue area in the front of the picture is the entrance to the toddler pool - 8" deep. Not for Cubby! He wanted to go down the yellow, blue and orange slides. Even the blue slide being a closed tunnel didn't phase him. Claire would go with him to the top, make sure the slide was clear and send him down. I'd be at the bottom and pull him out. Then we would wait for mom to come down. After awhile, he wanted mom and gamma gamma to change places. Yes, another one of those things you only do for your grandkids. Gamma gamma went down the slides too.

The next morning we spent another couple of hours at the pool and then on to Yoder's and Lolly's. I found some new Ricky Tim's fabric that I hadn't seen before and a $5.00 bag of really nice batik scraps. I kept telling myself to exercise restraint because Chicago was only a month away.

Friday was also my dad's birthday so we stopped in Kzoo for presents and Happy Birthday Quality Dairy doughnuts. Now it's back job hunting and homework but it was a good mini vacation

Fifty Degrees Tomorrow!!!

Can you guess what this is?

A doggie snow angel of course!

Gennie and I are certainly enjoying this break in the winter weather. This week is also going to be Spring Break at LCC. Not exactly Florida or Mexico but Lansing shouldn't be too bad this week. Enjoying the sunshine but it sure shows the dirt on the windows.

Sledding - Who me?

This morning Claire and Cubby came over to help me shovel and brave the winter snow. Yesterday, I waded through knee-deep snow to make sure that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle plastic sleds were still out in the shed. First we sledded down the hill in my front yard and then all (including Gennie) piled into the car to go to the BIG hill at Post Oak. We had a really great time.  I almost got Gennie to sit on my lap on the sled but I was worried that she would try to bail out half way down and we'd end up in a tumbled mess.  More pictures on Claire's Facebook page.

Yes, gamma gamma, I AM the king of the mountain. Hi Ya!

Mea Culpa

OK. I admit it. I hope I don't find a burning "Q" in my front yard. To all of you on fabric fasts and all of you ex - Country Stitches employees, I have strayed and signed up for the $6.00 quilt. There were 75 people at the first meeting - can you believe it? You get the first block for 6 bucks and as long as you bring the completed block in the next month, the next block kit is free. The idea is that you will also find something you can't live without when you come in to pick up your kit. So far I have spent an extra $3. I'm trying to hold my own on the impulse buying...

 
Here is the February block #2. Of course it uses dark colors. What else would you expect? There was also a second, pastel floral choice but that didn't appeal to me at all.

Have you ever tried to get a poinsettia to "rebloom"? It takes so many hours of daylight, so many hours of darkness. So much heat, so much cold, etc.  This little trooper is from Christmas 2008. He spent all summer on my sun porch and I brought him in a little too late, I thought. Apparently, whatever it is that I screwed up was just what he needed and I have been rewarded with a little tiny "bloom". (The flower of the poinsettia is actually its yellow center. The red “petals” surrounding those flowers are modified leaves, called bracts.) Smile for today.

February in Michigan

Last night we got dumped on again. But look on the bright side, it's only half of what they got on the East Coast. I came home from class Tuesday night about 7:30 and tried twice to make it up my driveway. No go. So I had to shovel before I could put my car away.  This morning the driveway didn't even look like I had shoveled at all.

But look at it now!  It took about an hour this morning to get it cleared. The sun is out and it actually felt warm. I have a hard time agreeing that it's pretty since I'm not a fan of winter but it's "OK".

While I was out, the neighbor's garage door opened and I heard, "Oh yeah, this is what I'm talkin' about!". The two little kids next door (4 & 6?) were home from school and much happier about the snow than I.

Is that a polar bear in a snowstorm? No, just Gennie.

Her opinions of snow run right along with mine.

DRAT!!! While I have been writing this post, the snowplow has filled the bottom of my driveway with backwash. Here we go again!

Milestone Birthday

My Aunt Eva in Pennsylvania is celebrating her 75th birthday this week. She has always been one of my favorite relatives and is now my only remaining Aunt. (Unfortunately, that happens as you get older - did I just have another birthday recently? - oh well.) I wanted to send a little surprise in her birthday card so I made this little heart (4"x 4") to let her know how much I love her. The center heart is beaded cross stitch on perforated paper and the rest is wool felt with more beads. I hope she has a wonderful celebration!

Last night I finally finished Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade. (Linda, see you at Foster on Wednesday.) It's basically a murder mystery with other stuff - war, politics, a little hot gay romance, thrown in. Not as good as the Outlander Series but Lord John is one of the story lines in the latest Outlander - An Echo in the Bone - so I wanted to catch up on his character before I started reading Echo.

One of the Coffee Jam quilters loaned me a Sharyn McCrumb novel - The Songcatcher. A long time ago, I read She Walks These Hills also by McCrumb and just loved it.  I can't decide if I'll take a break from the 18th century and read that or go on to Lord John and the Hand of Devils.

And They're Off!

At 9:20 this morning the intrepid travelers took off from E Lansing. It was zero degrees here; let's hope the weather is kind to them the rest of the way. Packing, except for delicate things like Irene's guitar and laptop were packed on Friday. After the talk of taking the crockpot and sewing machine, etc., I really expected the van to look like Murphy's closet. I expected it would be hard to close the doors but it really wasn't that bad. Congratulations ladies on your restraint.

 

It was a bit of a challenge getting both bikes on the bike rack but I'm sure they'll be old pros in no time. You may notice that Herman the road possum is taking his own companion, Marijo the Sock Monkey. Pretty progressive of Jan to allow him to bring a 'friend' of the opposite gender.

 
Off they go.... We'll have to start watching for posts from the road. I'm proud of you Jan for following your dream. And what a wonderful friend you are Irene for helping Jan's dream become a reality.

It's all in the family

It's been really wet in California. Here are a couple of pictures from my sister in Los Angeles. There is a cement trench that "directs" the L.A. River where to run around the city. We have walked my sister's dogs along the walking path when the river was just a trickle and you can see the bottom of the river, ducks paddling, turtles, etc.  Not this week!

These pictures were taken at the beginning of the week. There is another round of storms expected today.

Here are Chris' latest quilt creations. When it just keeps raining, you have to stay home and keep dry. (In between mopping up muddy dog prints) Good time to quilt.

Here's what she has to say:

Main fabrics came from "Quilted Angel" in Petaluma, CA. My husband Raul and son Isaac were on a post-Christmas road trip. Got a call from Isaac who said, "Dad's on his hands and knees looking at fat quarters, he wants to talk to you." Afterwards walking through the store Raul heard murmurs of, "What a nice man.....My husband would never buy fabric..."

 

Quilternity and Music eternity

Hooray! My birthday fabric has finally arrived. Last year between Christmas and New Year's, I ordered fabric from From Here to Quilternity. I hadn't thought about it again until Cyndee sent me a link to their 35% off sale. I couldn't resist. I think some of these fabrics will find their way into Bonnie's quilt along.

I am so easily influenced. Ruth has been so happy about her new piano, (can't wait to see it next week at Block Exchange) that I got out some of my old piano music and have actually played a few times in the last couple of weeks. This old standby was one of my recital pieces when I was a kid. The notes written in pencil marks are from the time Ian thought he would learn the piano but was soon on to other things. What really got to me though was the copyright date: 1964. It seems like an eternity ago but since I started taking piano lessons when I was nine years old, this was probably a new piece of music then! Ouch! 

Snowy Sunday

Find one old infant play mat in the closet.

Add an afghan from the sofa to make a tent for a 3 year old.

After the 3 year old goes home, add one jealous old yellow lab (sorry the picture is not better, had to grab it when I could.)

Saw this canvas at World Market. On Bonnie's blog, she mentioned a trend toward lighter quilts. Maybe this has possibilities as a future project.

Classes officially started yesterday at LCC. Good thing I didn't wait until Monday to log in. My first online assignment is due by 11:59 pm tonight!  Here we go again!