A Little Quilting Going On

This is panel 2 of the embroidery I am doing on a Christmas quilt. If you enlarge you can see I have pen and inked it and it is ready to go.

Here is the first panel all finished, yeah!!! This is the top, only 2 sides and the bottom left, lol.

Don't faint, I actually have a finished quilt. This is Gatsby and the fabric is by Timeless Treasures. I made it into a queen size so it would fit the bed.

This is a little Christmas tree made with yoyo makers. The dingy thing on the top is some yarn I was messing with trying to make a pom pom. I took this to my Tuesday quilter's meeting and some of the girls made some. We have little demos from members ever so often and I figured it was my time.

This is as far as I have gotten on Figgy Pudding. I am determined to get it done in the next couple of weeks so I can send it to the quilters. Wish me luck.

Just a word to the wise, if you have bought a kit for this quilt, be sure you check your yardage. The instructions for it call for 44 inch wof, and the only way you get that is if you don't cut off the selvedges. It is a Moda pattern, and I am not real happy about that. I do not want selvedges in my quilt, so I have had to buy extra fabric to make it to suit. Since I am making it larger than the pattern calls for anyway, it isn't too much of a problem, but just keep the measurements in mind when you cut, especially the background. I just love this quilt however.

I took a class Friday on Quilted Postcards. Just as soon as I get mine finished I will share it with you. It was so much fun. The teacher was Bonnnie Sable, who published a book on them called Positively Postcards. Check her out at http://www.quilted-postcards.com/. Great teacher and a great class!!! Thank you again, Bonnie!

This and That

There's a little hamburger joint close to us called Mike's. He makes great onion burgers and we go there about 1 every 2 weeks or so. His walls are always covered with "sayings", and right now he has bunches of them in cellephane holders with all sorts of pithy sayings on them. I love the one by Will Rogers about our congress. If you enlarge you can read them. Food for thought, lol.

Remeber the eclipse last month? I was outside and by the time I ran in and got my camera, it was almost over, but I love this shot. It looks like halloween to me, does it to you?

Where Does the Time Go?

I think I know where mine has gone the last several months, but I can't seem to slow it down and I have so much to do I can't get caught up.

A good friend of mine is the local Quilt Guild President this year, and she asked me to serve on her board. Sure, no problem, what is the easiest job you have? Well, we really need someone to write a new database for us to keep track of our members. Oh, I can do that, no problem. Hah!

It has taken loads and loads of time because I have completely rewritten it from scratch and membership chairman in this quilt guild is a busy position! Hopefully, by the time the year is over it will be a smooth running machine for the next person who takes the job.

It has not been easy and there are days when I want to just tell them I quit, but I haven't, and I won't. It is something that needs to be done, and I can do it. The small quilting group that meets once a month is what makes it all worthwhile, and I have to belong to the main guild in order to belong to the small one, lol.

I really am going somewhere with this conversation, I promise. If you belong to a guild, you need to realize how much time your board members spend in trying to bring you, the member, new ideas, pleasing teachers, and activities that will inspire you in your quilting endeavors.

Or, are you one of those who just grip because you don't like the way things are done? Well, let me tell you, get off your duff and join your local guild and volunteer and help change the things you don't like. I have really learned to appreciate the hard work and dedication some of these women in my guild have shown over the years.

And remember, the next time you don't like something that goes on in your guild, don't just grip, work to get it changed!

Just a Reminder

If you have made a comment on my blog and you are anonymous or on non-reply I have no way to answer you if you ask me a question. For information on the Kaffe Fassett quilt I am making call Quiltworks at 405-842-4778 and ask for Verlinda. She will be able to tell you all the details.

Life on the Funny Farm

I think it is time for some Aud stories.

The Crepe Myrtle "Bushes"

These 2 "bushes" were planted about 5 years ago. I like crepe myrtle bushes, but I love them in tree form if they are graceful. I came home from work one day to find two fat little crepe myrtle bushes planted 18 inches from the side of the house and directly over the sprinkler system. So, the following year in spring when it was time to "prune" them, I decided they really needed to be trees and pruned them accordingly. I don't cut them down like most people do, I just trim the "suckers". I did a bang up job of trimming, and was informed by a furious Aud that she intended for them to be bushes to hide the side of the house because it looked like there was a crack started in the brick. Sorry about that.

Well, have I paid for that mistake. Up until this year they have scraped, and moaned and groaned every time the wind blows and that is often in this part of the world. So far, they have been propped up three times, are top heavy, lol, and really need to be cut down probably and every time they bloom I hear the ...I just wanted bushes.....whining. At times over the years they have awakened me in the middle of the night, due to the wind whipping them against the house. And this may be part of the reason our house is haunted.

Yes, haunted.

Ant Attack

For a while about a month ago, we had lots and lots of rain. As a result we had some little black ants come to see us for a visit. Actually, I think they came in on some grapes or something similar, don't remember now. Anyway, they were around the sink and found the honey that was up in a cabinet and some of them drowned in that. We have the house exterminated every 4 months, and it had only been about a month since he had been here, so we call him to come check it out. He put down 3 pieces of what appeared to be 3 sided plastic around the sink area along the backsplsh and told us they would be gone in a day. And, lo and behold, they were. We did leave the little plastic pieces on the countertop however. We are fortunate to have a lady clean for us every 2 weeks and I do remember them being there after she cleaned the Monday following the planting of the plastic. After that I never paid any attention due to one thing and another.

Last night Aud informs me that she has decided why we have been feeling so bad lately. Why is that? .....We have been poisened by ant poisen.....what on earth are you talking about?. I do seem to be saying that a lot lately.....well, remember the little blue plastic thingies?...yes....well, have you seen them lately?...no, why?....... well, they were in the silverware drainer part of the dish drainer......you are kidding, right?.....no, so we have been eating ant poisen everytime we use the ice cream scoop or the knife.......they are there no longer, and we are feeling better...as to whether we really did have some ant poisen, who knows, but that might explain some of the wierd behavior going on around here lately, lol.

Harmone Trouble

Actually, today Aud decided it is her lack of harmones that is making her so grumpy and feeling so badly. They took them away from her when she was in the hospital about 2 months ago with a blood clot. And of course she has had hot flashes, and all of the thing associated with lack of harmones until her doctor gave her "whatever it was" and told her it would do the trick and didn't have estrogen in it. And, she is out of this drug and has been for 2 days and is grumpy as a bear in springtime. ....I have to go to the doctor...make an appointment....what do you need...and she tells me all about the harmones....just call the pharmacy and tell them to contact the doctor and he will send in a prescription....didn't think about that....

I hear her on the phone and she is laughing, and then she comes in and tells me that the pharmacist says those aren't harmones. I think we will be going to see her doc soon.

The House is Haunted

I think it was last week when Aud decided the house was haunted. This clock hangs in Aud's room, and she has had it forever. It chimes the hours during the day, and is silent at night. It quit working about 2 years ago, and even though the batteries in it were changed, it has never worked since until in the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago. All of a sudden, it started chiming...the wrong hour and not on the hour, but it is chiming. Perry, are you sure you didn't fix this clock? No, I didn't touch it....well, it is chiming, of course it is the wrong time, but it is chiming. Well, mother, too bad...I did not touch it. Since it has started working again, Aud swears that every other day or so, she sees the minute hand move backward, and the clock starts chiming a different hour than it was. So we have a haunted clock. Actually, we have two of them.

This clock is also a chimer, but it chimes every hour day and night. It seems to be softer at night however. About a year ago it decided to move up its time by an hour. This was not due to daylight savings time, it just moved up one day, and then about 2 months later moved up another hour. I got it down, and reset the time. I have now done that twice this year, and it is up to 2 hours ahead again. Unreal, and neither of us knows why.


We also hear people talking through the floor vents after we go to bed at night, at least it sounds like it. They sure throw a lot of parties.

Who's to Blame?

When things like this happen, Aud usually blames Dolly Parton, the Bijon Frese (sp?) dog she had that passed away before we moved up here, or my husband, who also passed away before we moved up here. And since I had him cremated and he is in the house with us up here, she may be right, lol.


I can't tell you where I keep him in the house, because my oldest daughter does believe in ghosts and she doesn't want to know, and sometimes she reads my blog. Please don't harass me about this, it is a choice I have made. When I pass on, I want him around so I will bury him with me. Since I know where he is, I don't have to worry if I want to move to another town or state, right? I can still visit with him.


Well, I guess that is enough "stuff" for one night. If you hung around this long, you must be taking a nap by now. One of these days I will post about the animal residents we have had in the time we have lived here. That was definitely a "funny farm" experience.


Hope this week is going well for everyone. This is hump Wednesday, so hang in there!

Hugs to all!

Musings of a Muddled Mind

Several things have been decided this week. Number one, we are all getting older and the older we get, the stranger we get I think. Also, I am firmly convinced we are related to apes or monkeys.

Case in point. Mothers are mothers, evidently it doesn't matter whether they are animal or human. I am sitting outside last weekend at my daughter's house with one foot propped across my leg and Aud is sitting beside me. You have a callus on your foot......said in a voice that can be heard by everyone....yes, I do. So? Can't you just see a monkey going over her child with "a fine tooth comb"?

And, the week before that while I am eating breakfast......you need to arch your eyebrows....I can't see the damn things, mother....well, do you want me to arch them for you?...no thank you. Why are you bringing this up?...well, they look unkept....they are so light you can't even see them...well I can and you need to arch them.

I was telling a friend about this and she had a good story to add to the mix. Her elderly aunt announced in a loud voice (at the wedding of my friend's son), you stopped up my toilet and it overflowed. Everyone there stopped all conversations and just stared. My friend has no idea when she was talking about, but somewhere in the past she had the idea it had happened. It makes you very wary of being around senior citizens when you both are around other people.

Mothers always seem to tell stories in front of you to other people that will embarass you also. I just shudder at some of the ones Aud has told about me, and I am sure you have some you shudder about also.

The other thing I have decided is the men in Oklahoma between approximately 25 and 40 have to be the rudest drivers in the universe. They all think they are macho men and act like idiots when you say anything to them that doesn't sound like pleading. Case in point...will you move your car so I can get out?.....well, you don't have to show attitude, you could ask nicely.......at this point I have been waited on Mr. Redneck to move his care for about 5 minutes.....and I am not the most patient of people at certain times.....needless to say I did yell at him, and what I yelled was not very nice....something to the effect of you cretin....#^$#^^# I'll show you some attitude....he moved his car. Mother is still laughing about that one, and I am still half way mad about it. Of course at this time of the month I always seem to be on edge......so don't even think that when you hit menopause you get over that pms stuff...don't think it happens.

Also, there must be a handbook for all Okie males that reads.....you must have a truck and you must follow the car in front of you no further away than 2 feet, and harass every female that is driving in front of you regardless. Oh, and be sure you play your radio at an ear splitting level.

I can't remember the last time I have driven anywhere in any city that I didn't get to hear the choice of music from some idiot driving with his music turned sky high. No wonder the younger generation can't hear anything.

Back to the senior citizens. I really don't understand why some older people are so kind and gentle and a joy to be around (like my mother most of the time) and others are just so unhappy and mad all of the time that they can't enjoy themselves. I personally am about half and half of each I think, and I can talk about them because I will be 70 in August. Trying to get some of them to do something different is like pulling teeth. Ask me how I know, lol.

And, speaking of music, have you ever noticed that the music in most restaurants is so loud you can't carry on a conversation without yelling? And most of the speakers are out of tune, so you can't really hear anything but a lot of noise. I am to the point where I am going to just turn around and leave. It is just insane. The reason the music is played so loudly is because(and this has been proven) you eat faster when the music is loud and the crowd turns over faster, which increases the amount of money you take in within a given time, like lunchtime.

I guess I have ranted and raved enough for now. If this headache I have had for 3 weeks would just go away, maybe some of this drivel wouldn't bother me so much. Yeah, right! lol

I hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July. Our flags are flying in the neighborhood and thank goodness we have the freedom to rant and rave and fly flags and say about anything we want to (not as much these days as when I was young) without fear of being thrown in jail or worse. We live in a wonderful country and I hope and pray it will continue to be that way. Hopefully, the crisis going on is just a bump in the road on the way to grandma's house. Hugs to all!!!