OKPeri's Place

IF You Live Long Enough you.......

2011-09-09T19:07:00.000-05:00

can tell your child or children everything they ever did that you didn't like, or tell them stories that you have no idea whether they are true or not.

Sometimes, the ones Aud tells explain some of the reasons I am like I am. (And sometimes I wonder if she makes stories up just because)

I am an only child and have always had the irritating (to some people) habit of trying to tell people how to do things, or trying to fix something that I think they are doing the wrong way. Well, now I know why.

We are driving down some road a couple of days ago having one of those ongoing (for us anyway) conversations about why we have made some of the decisions involving our move from Texas to Oklahoma 10 years ago. We always come up with variations on a theme of the reasons.

Imagine my surprise, when out of the blue, Aud says to me...You always were a sh*tt* child.....

What? What do you mean?

Well, you were.

Oh, ok, well great, Mom, thanks for letting me know. What took you so long to come to that conclusion?

And we laughed, and went on our way.

This afternoon, out of the blue, Aud says to me....you know when I told you you were a sh**ty
child?

Yes

Well, what I meant by that is.....when you were little I wanted you to be so perfect and act right in every instance so I taught you from right and wrong and how you should act. like.....

Little girls don 't do that, this is the way you act, etc...

I didn't have any siblings to boss around, and Aud says I just bossed everyone else, and some people didn't take it very well, and guess what, they still don't, lol.

and for the last 72 years that is exactly what I have done.

The moral of this story is, if there is one, if you live long enough you can blame all of your shortcomings or goings on your parents.

I Don't See The Card

2011-08-03T16:22:00.001-05:00

Continuing on with the surreal week I seem to be having......

It is 108 here this afternoon and I just got home from doc visit and a couple of errands I needed to run.
And the following is one of the reasons I am not getting anything accomplished this week in the way of working on Grace.

Hello, Toyota? I need to get my oil changed. Do you have time today?
(been trying for two weeks now and they want me to leave it all day, hah)
Can you leave the car?
No
Well, you are looking at a couple of hours
Ok, will check back later

Well, let's see, I have a couple of coupons and a gift certificate to Coldwater Creek. Guess I will drop by there and see what they have and then check back with Toyota and see if they can do the car.

I go to Coldwater Creek, find several things for me and several for Aud. It is our favorite place to shop and they know us there, etc. Oooh, don't have my card with me, oh well, I can call Aud and get her to give me the numbers.

Calling Aud,

Mom, would you please go look in that basket besides my chair and get the Coldwater Creek card out? I need the number.

Hang on, I just got out of the shower and I don't have my glasses on.....
hmmm, can't see very well, let's see, this is Blockbuster .....

I don't want Blockbuster
I know, I am looking, I can't see very well

Audrey, go get your glasses please
Ok, I have to put the phone down, be right back.....

Ok, let's see, hmmmm, no, no, no, here's Amazon,
No, I don't want Amazon, just Coldwater Creek,
It should be leaning against the front edge of that basket,
No, not here..... here's Ethel
Ethel? I don't have an Ethel credit card
Oh, no , this is just a card,
Mother, we are looking for a credit card
No, I don't see it, here's .... and here's ..... and so on and so on

Well, look in the black card case, that is probably where it is
ok......
no, it is not here
Are you sure?
Yes, I have looked through it twice.
Ok, never mind, I will use my other card.
(I like to use my Coldwater Creek card because I get "rewards")
Thanks for looking. See you after while.
Pay for our stuff, and leave.

My Toyota has keyless entry, and I walk up to it and pull on the handle, and it doesn't open. Sometimes when I leave it with valet parking at the doc's office, it won't open without the key for a couple of times.

So, no problem, I get the key out and press the button and I can hear the beep but the door doesn't open. Now it is 108 and I am "sweating" and thinking, great, just what I need, middle of this heat and the electronics are affected. I press the button again, and nothing.

I glance in the car, and hmmm, maybe this isn't my car. It looks like my car, though
I go around to the front, and there is an L emblem on it. This isn't my car, this is a Lexus!

I look around, and my car is two spaces down. :) Thank heavens no one was around, I felt like a fool, but it wasn't beeping and no alarm was going off. Yay for that!

I grin, get in my car, turn the a/c as high as it will go, and head home. No way am I going to go sit in the dealer's waiting area for 2 hours or so.

I do stop and fill the car with gas and am thinking, please let me get home before I can't breathe!

I get home, look where I told Aud to look for the card, and sure enough, it is right where I told her it was. I notice the connecting cord for the camera to connect to the computer is laying on the floor and it usually is attached to my camera case.

Mother, the card was where I told you it was.
Show me
I show her the card case, and she says, that's not the case I looked in.
What case did you look in
The one that looks like one to hold your glasses.
Did it have a camera in it?
Yes
Well, that is my camera case, and I show her the card case, it too is black, and it is right beside the camera case!
Oh, I didn't see that. ARRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!! I am not yelling! Why? Not sure! Wouldn't do any good anyway

Aud goes off to change clothes, and I am getting a fashion show will I am opening mail.

And, then,
I hate to tell you this, Perry, but I don't like this blouse. It is too hot and I don't like the feel of it.

Ok, I will take it back tomorrow.

It doesn't matter how many times we have gone out there or how much or how little we buy when we go, there is always at least one item that has to go back, lol. And it is a good 10 or 12 mile to the store we go to.

Tomorrow I will return the blouse, pick up my BOM from the local quilt store, and go set in the Toyota place with a Starbucks and my Ipad and get the oil changed in the car. Maybe the third time is a charm.

I Can't Find My Wallet!

2011-08-02T20:00:00.001-05:00

Aud, come on! Your doctor's appointment is in 15 minutes!

I can't find my wallet.
What do you mean, you can't find your wallet.
I walk into her bedroom and she is digging through her dresser drawers with her blue purse in one hand.
It's not here and it's not in my dresser.
Have you looked in your chair?
Yes, it's not there.
I raise the chair...look under the chair...is it there? No.
Did you look in the living room?
Yes, it's not there.
It has to be here somewhere, you haven't been anywhere.
It's not here.
That's not the right purse you are looking in
Yes it is
I don't think so, do you have your keys in there?
Yes
We search the house.
Mother, this is ridiculous, we are going to be late and you don't need your wallet right now and you do have the keys.
I need my money and it is in my wallet.
I have money, we can look for your wallet when we get back. Aud we are going to be late!
Well the keys aren't in here either.
What do you mean, the keys aren't in there? You can't lose the car key, it is the extra one that has the computer thingy in it.
Well, it's not here either.
Can I look?
Yes, but it's not there!
You're right, it's not in here either. This isn't the right purse. Aud, the last purse you used was the bag thing that is striped.
I looked in that one, it's not there.
Can I look?
yes. but it's not there!
I go to her closet and picked up the striped bag that is laying on the floor in the corner. Is this the bag
you looked in?
Yes
This isn't the right bag, Aud. The stripes went up and down, not around.
That's the purse I used
Well, your wallet is not in there.
I know that
Let me look in the car and see if it dropped out. What really concerns me is where in the $%#@ the car key is!
I look in the car. Of course it is not there.
I walk back in the house
Aud, come on, we have to go.
I found it!
Where was it?
Well. when you said something about that not being the right bag, you were right. It was in the other striped bag, and so are the keys.
Where was the purse?
Under some clothes in the closet.
Oh for cripes sakes! Come on, we are late.
We get in the car and head out to the doctor.
Don't let that happen again Perry.
What? Let what happen again?
Don't lose my keys again.
Ok, Aud, I will be more careful from now on.
:)

Design Wall Monday

2011-08-01T09:22:00.001-05:00

I have made progress on my Grace Quilt in spite of all the "adventures" that have happened in the last couple of weeks.

All of the stars are finished.

And now the placing of the blocks is going on. My design wall is not big enough to put all of the rows up so I have the first four up like I am going to put them together. I have made a couple of changes since I took this picture, but this is it basically.

To see what other people are up to this week, visit Patchwork Times.

How Did This Happen?

2011-07-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

Well, it's like this, Doc, I was standing at the kitchen counter finishing up dinner and told Aud to come get her plate fixed.

Aud walks into kitchen and begins to fill her plate and I hear "oops" and then I feel pain!

For some reason, not sure why, she has a sharp 8" long knife on her plate and it has slipped off, and landed point down in my foot!!!!! Who walks approximately 8 feet with a sharp knife on one edge of a plate? Beware of mothers! They can always find a way to get to you!

I had sharpened 2 knives about 30 minutes prior to this so we could use them to cut the pork chops I had grilled and to cut cantelope. Since she was coming into the kitchen to get the porkchop I knew she hadn't cut that yet. What are you doing with the knife on your plate? Cutting my cantelope. Well, great, cantelope juice in my foot, whoopee!!!

My foot is bleeding like a stuck pig. I have a kleenex on it pressing down to try to stop the bleeding, and I am thinking when is the last time I had a tetanus shot and I cannot believe this. I sit there for a few minutes and the bleeding hasn't stopped so I hobble into the bathroom, get some hydrogen peroxide, lift my foot up to the sink (that was a sight to behold, let me tell you) pour half the bottle of peroxide over it, grab a washcloth and hold it on the foot.

It quits bleeding in a few minutes, and I get up to go find the tetanus shot record that I need, and it starts bleeding again. Great! I finally get it under control enough to go get the shot record, and hobble back into the living room and call the local clinic to see if I need to get another one because it has been 6 years since I had one. (the one I had to get when I sewed a needle through a finger, talk about fun!)

No, you don't need another one for another year or so, but you need to come in if the bleeding doesn't stop or you need stitches.

Stiches? OMG, hadn't thought of that. It is 7 pm and they close at 8, so if I am going to do something I have to do it now. I have put Neosporin on it and covered it with a bandage and taped it good, but haven't checked to see how deep it is. Yuk, this thing is going to need stitches.

Hobbling to the car with a houseshoe on the affected foot and a sandal on the other, I drive myself to the local clinic, about 2 miles away.

Get there, fill out paperwork, and don't have to wait but perhaps 5 minutes and this sweet young man comes to get me and takes me to a small room to take my vitals. 125 over 85 bp, heart rate 106, oxygen 95, ok, I can live with that. bp a little high for me, but not to shabby considering. Then he has me stand on the scales and gets my weight, we are not going there, and takes my height. I have not removed my shoes but figure that won't matter.

By the way, what is my height? 5'3".....WHAT??? Last time I checked I was 5'5" without shoes!
I have shrunk over 2 inches! No wonder my pants are so long!

I get taken to another room, wait for doctor.....

Hello, how are you?
Great! I am bleeding from a knife wound and I am 2 inches shorter than I was!
Well, hop up here and let's look at that foot!
Hmm, how did you do this? ( see above)
you are going to need 2 stitches in here.
Oh wonderful! I hate needles.
Well, I can put 2 sticks in your foot to deaden or 4 sticks in your foot for the stitches
Ok, I guess I would prefer just 2 sticks. OW! Hurts!
So I have two beautiful little stitches in my foot, it is covered with this flesh colored bandage, and I am not to get it wet or remove bandage for 24 hours.
Go home and prop your foot up and come back it if starts bleeding, and so on and so on.
See you in 7 to 10 days to have the stitches removed.

Add another adventure to the road of life.

Hope your weekend is going smoothly.

You Bid Three With Those Points?

2011-07-14T08:45:00.000-05:00

Back in another time in a galaxy evidently far far away from reality I played duplicate bridge; was fortunate enough to have good teachers and partners, and traveled to several states in search of the elusive master points that are used to establish your place in the bridge world pecking order.

I absolutely loved to play and I got to be pretty good at it for a few years, and then life stepped in and said that's enough of that, and I had to quit playing.

When I first moved to Oklahoma, I played a couple of times but couldn't seem to find a partner that I thought I would enjoy playing with, so I didn't pursue it. Time passed, and about 3 years ago I played a couple of games, and got kind of interested, but that didn't pan out so I had not played again until last month when one of my old bridge partners came to town. We didn't do very well, but it sure did rev up my "bridge playing" need.

My daughter Summer texted me (we do better if we don't talk to each other in person, lol) and told me she had an old friend she had run across that used to play bridge and thought the two of us might enjoy playing. Would I be interested?

Sure

Ok, John (the friend) comes over Thursday night to "discuss" our bridge game. When you are playing duplicate bridge, it is a little more complicated than regular bridge, and there are lots of rules and conventions, etc, that can "enhance" or "screw up" your bridge game big time.

We agreed to see if we can play together and made plans to play last Saturday afternoon. I have quite a few Master Points so we have to play in a higher category than he would if he was playing with someone on his level. That sounds conceited, but I didn't make the rules. He said he wouldn't mind playing at a higher level, and I assured him I didn't play real well because I had forgotten a bunch and had no memory.

Oh, I also have no tact at all anymore, never had much, but none at all now it seems.

Ok. Scene set......

We are playing along and seem to be doing ok. I bid by the seat of my pants and gut instinct a lot because I do have good card sense most of the time.

We have a couple of missteps, my bidding, his defense, I point out my own really stupid mistakes and the ones he hasn't played long enough to correct, lol. He takes it all very well.

Add to this "trying to be a good partner and have some patience" and "keep from screwing up", I have this horrible, raging headache from hell that is making me dizzy and nauseous, and I am so not really together.

Up comes a hand that he opens, I make a bid, he makes another bid (which he has to do under the conventions we are using) and I make the bid of 3 hearts. It goes pass, pass, pass.

His hand comes down, I take one look at it and say
I can't believe you bid three hearts with that!
Perry, I didn't bid three hearts, you did!
Oh, lol, good thing I made contract, isn't it!

You probably had to have been there to appreciate the humor?

Did we do well? no
Is there a promise of having a good partnership? yes
Are we going to play again? yes
This coming weekend.

Pray for John.

Me, I don't think it will help at all, unless you pray that I am in this galaxy and in the state of Oklahoma next weekend when the games are going on, lol.

Will let you know how it goes.

Aud Tales

2011-07-13T08:33:00.001-05:00

Haven't posted too much about Miss Aud lately. She has had some rough patches the last few months, and I have had some too, and we just haven't done a lot of "fun" things.

However, wherever she is, there is always something going on. lol.

The last part of May I was somewhere and someone asked me if I had a blue rinse in my hair, you know, like the old ladies wear. I had to laugh because they were talking about the purple streaks in my hair. I have had purple streaks in my hair for several years, but since my thyroid is finally straightened out, my hair doesn't seem to keep the purple in.

When Aud and I were at Shelva's (hairdresser to Perry and Aud) in June, she put purple in my hair and I was letting it set while she did Aud's and Aud says,
I want pink in my hair today.
Mother, please don't
Yes, I want some pink in my hair.
If I had known that I wouldn't have put purple in mine. Please don't.

Well, of course she did, which did not set well with me. Why?
How would you like to go somewhere with your almost 95 year old mother and people ask you if you were sisters?
lol, happens every time we both have colored streaks in our hair.

So, I decided this month, I would put no purple in my hair. It was all gone from June by the time we went to Shelva's last week anyway.

No purple for me today.
You don't need it, Perry, says hairdresser to Perry and Aud, your hair looks like it has a purple tint to it anyway and it is a different color than it was last month.
Great! I look like a little old lady with a blue wash, is that what you are saying?
Hah, Hah, says the hairdresser to Perry and Aud. No, but I think secretly she is telling me a white lie.

Put pink in mine today says Aud.
Here are pics of Aud with her pink hair.

Typical of the conversations we seem to be having these days:

Why did you buy Neosporin for me, I have plenty.

Because you put it on the grocery list.

No I did not, I put campho phonique (sp, too lazy to go look) on there.

No you didn't.

Where is the grocery list?

Well, I threw it away, (bad words!)

Well, it said camphor phonique.

No, it didn't

Yes it did.

I will NEVER through another grocery list away again.

So, put it on the grocery list.....this was 2 days ago

Guess who finally put it on the grocery list today? Me of course.

------

I need to go close the garage doors, it is dark. (me)

You have already locked up the garage. (Aud)

No, I haven't. I have been asleep. (trouble with vicious migraines lately)

Well, I didn't lock the door.

Must have been the resident ghost again, huh? Gee, we haven't seen him for awhile.

I think the trouble comes from her being the youngest of 5 children and since I am an only child I must be older than she is, right? Makes perfect sense to me.

-------------

Visit to Doc's office on Friday.

Doc says..your blood pressure is a little higher than usual. You need to get rid of all stress.

Aud says...well, i just hate to shoot her….

---------------------

Look up severe headaches in Google.....stress is one of the main causes .......Hah!

I Just Love Gadgets!

2011-07-12T07:45:00.001-05:00

Ever so often (seems like every other day, lol) I find a notion or a "gadget" that I just "have to have". A friend of mine has one of these

The Little Red Craft Iron

So, why do you have this iron? asked the Little Red Hen
Why the better to iron my appliqué when I am prepping it, She replied.
And where can I buy this? asked the Little Red Hen
Why, here, of course.

Well, this is the site of Bunny Hill Designs, says the Little Red Hen
Yes, says my friend.
Well, what else can I find at this site that I will just love?

Why, this of course.

Oh, will this teach me how to do the wonderful kind of applique that I see on Bunny Hill Designs?

Why, yes it will! If any thing can help you learn to do beautiful needler turn applique, it will be this CD.

I think she may be right, too. I bought the CD, I have watched it, fallen in love with the method, and as soon as I can get all the "stuff" caught up a bit, I intend to try to do some of it. It is just beautiful and looks so simple! There will be more later on this I hope.

Then, I was looking at Fat Quarter Shop and found something that is the perfect answer for me to the problem I have about taking "just a few pins" somewhere. They always fall out of the little plastic containers and I have tried several homemade objects to stick them in, and nothing compares to this.

Is this neat looking or what?

And when you open it up, there is a magnetic lining for pins and needles! The best part about this is that the magnetic part is confined to the inside. When the lid is closed it does not magnetize on the outside.

You can find them in two "colors" here and here. I think it is one of those "must haves".

Hope this week is going well for all of you!

Design Wall Monday

2011-07-11T05:30:00.006-05:00

The beginning of Grace.

I have all of the pieces cut out and am now starting on the assembly. Of course I have all of these stars to make, but the borders are cut out and ready to go on when I finish the stars. I bought quite a bit of extra fabric for this quilt to make it "my size", so I will have enough squares left over for something else. Not sure what, maybe another one of those table toppers I keep saying I am going to make, huh.

And then there is this. Block two in my Kaffe Fassestt Flower Basket quest. two down and several to go.

Thanks to Judy for hosting Design Wall Mondays. Be sure to check out the other beautiful projects that are always showing up over there.

I Have Quilts!

2011-07-10T19:26:00.001-05:00

Finally, in spite of eye problems, etc, I have in my hot little hands, two quilts with binding finished, washed, and ready to use.

This is my Road to Oklahoma. I have collected reds, blues and offwhites since I started quilting in 1999 and finally started a quilt out of them in 2007. Now it is finally finished!

This is my version of Diamond in the Rough, a pattern by Deborah Maddy. I took a class at the local quiltstore taught by Marilyn Karper about 2008 because I figured that was the only way I would ever make a quilt with this block. However, this is "my way". I did the sashing and borders differently than the pattern calls for. The fabric is all Thimbleberries except for the backgrounds, and they are just offwhite small prints. The back of the quilt is composed of large squares of the Thimbleberry fabrics I used in the quilts.

My Luna Notte is at the quilter's and it should be done in a couple of months. I feel like I have some progress going on!!!

Catching Up

2011-07-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

If it gets any hotter up here I think I am going to hibernate until Winter and then I can grip about the cold. It has been over a hundred every day for the last couple of weeks I think. Feels like it anyway.

Was down in the bowels of Texas last weekend and it was hot down there too. I was on I35 on a Sunday and, OMG! Traffic was unreal, both lanes each way going 80 and motorcycles weaving in and out and cars cutting in front of anyone they could. I think they were all sun crazed or thought they must be in LA or something.

I stopped somewhere, not sure where it was, just to get out of the fray for a while, and get some gas etc. in case there was a wreck and I was stuck for hours. I got back in the rat race and sure enough the traffic slowed to a crawl and this car besides me was honking and pointing to the back of my car and I looked out the rear view mirror, and lo and behold, I had left the gas cap off and the panel open. Yuk! So I pulled off the road, got out in the 100 degree heat with all these people staring at me, put on the gas cap, got back in the car, and a truck let me get back in, thank you very much trucker, if you read my blog.

I was so tired by the time I got to my cousin's she asked me if I wanted a margarita and I said yes! So I had two of them, and promptly took a nap for about an hour, lol. Had the most delicious meal and then I slept through a couple of tv shows and went to bed.

Monday, I got back on I35 and headed to OKC. Put the car on cruise at 80 and said, I'm going home, don't care if I get a ticket, thank goodness I didn't, and got home in record time. And it is nothing but hot up here!

Aud is doing pretty good. She has her good days and bad days. She did had a wonderful time while I was away.

A friend of mine stayed with her some and my grandson got her to go out to eat a couple of nights, and he took her to see his mother one day for a few hours. She was worn out when I got home, but full of stories about the cake she and Jackson (grandson)made (it was not good, lol) and the pecan pie she took to Summer's (her granddaughter) house and the fact that my ex husband ate all but 2 pieces of it . Since Aud told them she had to bring a piece back for me, that left 1 piece for four people, lol. Love it!

I went to the library a couple of days ago to pick up some new books and got her the new Nora Roberts , Amanda Quick, and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. So she reads the Roberts, I read the Phillips, and then yesterday she starts reading the Phillips. I go back to her room last night to check on her and see how she is enjoying the book, and she is reading Black Heels and Tractor Wheels by Pioneer Woman.

How did you like the Phillips book, Aud? (assume she has read it since that was what was reading when last I saw her reading)
I haven't finished it.
What do you mean you haven't finished it. If that is so, why are you reading the Pioneer Woman book?
I told you I haven't finished it.
Aud, this is not the Phillips book!
This is the one I am reading.
Ok, I get the Phillips book and show her where she has turned it over on a table, and,
Oh, I was reading that, wasn't I?
No wonder this wasn't making much sense but I think I have read it, talking about the Pioneer Woman
Yes, you read that a month or so ago.
Well I thought I remembered some of it.
So we laugh and I don't think anymore about it.
Today, guess what she is reading?
The rest of the Pioneer Woman book that she has already read. :)

At least the TV is off for a while.

Me, I have been working on the Grace quilt kit I got from Fat Quarter Shop. It must be sold out, couldn't find it on FQS site, but the pattern is Lucky Stars by Atkinson Designs. It is really going to be a beautiful quilt. Hopefully it won't take me a year to get it done, lol.

I guess that catches me up for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and remembers why we are celebrating!

What Was I Thinking!

2011-06-20T12:48:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have posted. Lots of life has happened.

I did finally finish my basket quilt. As I mitered the last border on it yesterday and laid it out on the floor so I could see it, I could only think ....what in the world was I thinking! I only wanted a table topper from this fabric, but it kept growing and growing and growing, until finally it emerged into this 95 x 100 queen size quilt.

I think I also possess enough scraps from the fabric to make at least a 40 x 40 table topper. Is this what is called "two for one"?

I told my quilter the first of January I would have it to her by the 15th, and could she get it back to me by the middle of February. Hah! I was beginning to think I meant next year!

Anyway, it is finally finished and I just love it! Hope you do too!

A Note to Evelyn

2011-06-01T22:03:00.000-05:00

Dear Evelyn,

I will reply to your request for information about the Berninas I have here because I cannot reply to a nonreply email. To receive personal emails you must have an email address to reply to.

Background:

When I bought my 220 Bernina I only wanted a machine that had a great quarter inch foot and a beautiful satin and blanket stitch. Since I already had the Pfaff that did other things I only needed those 3 things in a machine and I did buy a quarter inch foot and a straight stitch face plate. It was also light enough I could take it with me to a class if I wanted to. It does not have the capacity to make button holes but that wasn't important to me. It is a wonderful smaller machine and does not disappoint me in any way. It does exactly what I wanted it for and does a great job.

When I started sewing on the 220 I remembered how much I had enjoyed my previous Berninas, and the size of the Pfaff quarter inch seam was not compatible with the 220 one. So, I bought the 440 because I wanted the features of that machine and it would be compatible with the 220 seams as far as sewing was concerned. Now I can start a quilt on one machine and finish it up on another and know the seams will be the same size.

I did sell my Pfaff and I do miss the Integrated Dual Feed on it. It was great, but I gained the ability to sew using two machines on the same project. That has become important to me because my sewing areas are not contingent.

Now to answer your question.

Hello - I'm thinking of buying a Bernina 220 and wonder if you could give your appreciation of it - I see you upgraded to a 440 - what was the difference like? Will I be disappointed with the 220? I believe it does not come with the feet I want.. 1/4 inch, walking foot and free machining or darning foot... does the 440 come with these or is it worth getting 220 and buying the extras?
I would really appreciate your view, Many thanks,

If you can afford the 440, go for it. The main reason I bought it is it has a feature that allows you to tighten the weight of the top foot and helps prevents fabric slippage when you are piecing. I hope that makes sense to you. It is the closest thing to the IDF of the Pfaff that is available in this price range. It has many more options as far as stitches are concerned than the 220 and, depending upon the dealer or the current package Bernina is featuring, will come with several feet you are wanting, and sometimes the walking foot is included (it was with mine). It also does buttonholes if you need that. Mine came with a quarter inch foot, a darning foot, the Bernina Stitch Regulator and several other feet. It does have an embroidery module that you can get for it but I am not into that so I did not get that option. Perhaps later I will add that.

Before I forget, the 220 and 440 feet are interchangeable, as is the straight stitch foot plate. And the feet are not cheap. I did buy foot 20 for embroidery because I like it better for embroidery as it is more open.

I did keep my 220 and I use it mainly for machine embroidery because I can set it up with the thread I want to use and the foot and foot plate and leave it that way. I use the 440 for the main quilt I am sewing on because I have my design wall behind it and this is the area I use to put my quilts together on. I also use it for machine embroidery if I need to. I love having the option of doing one thing for a while, and then switching to something else to work on. The machines are in different rooms.

I have now added a featherweight which is also compatible with the Berninas as far as stitch width is concerned. I have set it up in a spare bedroom that has a tv in it and I can piece in there and watch tv when my other two areas are in use for other projects. I am very fortunate to have the 3 areas and I can now have 3 projects going without having to move things around. Added bonus is exercise going from room to room, lol. I really do love the concept. It is counterproductive when I have to move something to do something else and can't remember what I was doing. Plus I can only cut out fabric for a little over an hour and then I am exhausted from standing, and this way I can do other things instead and not have to put my cutting stuff away.

I don't think you would be disappointed with either machine, frankly. They are both great. Right now with it being Bernina's 40th Anniversary you can get great financing on all of their machines and no finance charges using Bernina's Credit Card on purchases over $1,000.

After rereading this I am not sure I have really given you a concrete answer. I will just say I love both machines, but if you can only have one and can do it, go for the 440. It is heavy and not fun to lug around, but it is a great machine.

My original Bernina was an 830 and I sewed on it for 35 years before I finally upgraded to the newer ones. They are built to last, that's for sure.

Hope this helps, if you have other questions, email me again, but be sure you give me an email address I can respond to please.

A Touch of Spring

2011-03-31T23:27:00.000-05:00

The pansies are just beautiful this year and my lilies are getting green, green, green. The daffodils are growing, all of the groundcovers are just beautiful, but the poor tulips...don't think they are going to make it. We are supposed to have 90 degree weather by Sunday!

Making Lemonade

2011-03-28T14:36:00.000-05:00

out of lemons with lemons.

I have started X-Rated, the Schnibbles quilt by Miss Rosie. I think I know why she called it that, lol. At least those are the kind of words I used. I was so frustrated in trying to keep the rows straight when I was laying it out......

I went to Home Depot, bought a piece of PURPLE insulation board, had them cut it in two pieces, a five foot and a 3 foot (48 inches wide) and proceeded to use my good old duct tape and some leftover batting and make myself a design wall for this size quilt.

Doesn't look real good, but it sure works well!! portable and not expensive! The best kind!!! Oh, and don't laugh to much, it is really pretty neat. One of these days when I have a whole "pretty" piece of flannel, which I think works better for design walls than batting, I will make it look better maybe. :)

See how nicely the quilt pieces go on this?

I was able to turn the board so I could check the placement of the colors. Not too good of a color choice for this pattern, not enough contrast, and the LQS didn't have the light gray that goes with this collection. So I chose the white, which washes out the colors I think, and that is what I am using.

The great thing about this size "design wall" is I can put it up right beside my sewing machine and pick up the pieces straight off of the surface without moving. Works great! Maybe, just maybe, I will get this sucker together without messing it up.

Also managed to get my Kaffe BOM started. This is what it is supposed to look like when it is finished.

This is the first month. I am machine appliquéing it and am going to try to keep up. Hah! Wish me luck on doing that.

Will get back to my Luna Notte baskets next week I hope, and hopefully, the Market Baskets. Check out Judy's blog to see what other people have managed to get done lately.

A Little Quilting Going On

2011-03-14T01:09:00.000-05:00

My heart goes out to all of the people affected by the Tsunami. Such a dreadful thing to happen and I certainly hope the situation in Japan gets better fast for all of our sakes.

I did do a little quilting this weekend. My quilt room is still not together and I can't find things but I did manage to get enough of it organized to get some of my Market Baskets made. I also managed to get all of the handles cut out and ready to go. I have over a hundred of these darlings to make in 4 different sizes, lol, so I started on the small ones...it gives me a feeling of accomplishment. :)

I am using 3 different backgrounds to keep it interesting. I managed to get 17 of the 58 4 inch baskets done out of one background. Check on Sharie's progress, she is probably further along than I am. This is all I will probably get done this month, but at least I have it started.

This is the center of my Luna Notte quilt finished and waiting on the borders. You can see some of them on the ladder on the right. I am adding multiple borders and am going to miter the corners so I am procrastinating lol. However, I am going to work on that some this week hopefully.

This is a portion of the Christmas stockings that a friend and I are making for the local guild for a giveaway. She did the embroidery and I did the "sizzix thing" (sp?) and now she is going to put fur tops on and sew them up. They will be beautimous!

Here are some photos of my quilting room. When the floor was pulled up we found some mold so the floor had to be treated and then we had to wait a week for everthing to get dry and then the new floor had to be put in and then the "movers" had to come back and put everything back in place. That is why you see all of the stickers on the containers. It did not all go back in the room. I ended up with two huge boxes full of backings that are now in another bedroom. I will show you pics of that "fabric storage" when I get it finished.

My new ironing table, repurposed from a maple chopping block Aud had made 20 years ago and we no longer have room for in the kitchen. It works great and takes up less room. My daughter helped me staple the ironing fabric to the table surface and it was so hard the staples didn't go in very far. Being the mother of two little girls she just happened to bring "tiger" duct tape which we used to help keep the staples from ripping my fingers when I move the table around and to make the ends look a little better, hah! lol....it makes me giggle.

From the doorway

Left side of room

closet areas

Be sure you check out Judy's Place to see what other people are doing. Hope everyone has a great week!

Is It Over?

2011-03-07T17:20:00.001-06:00

Is this past winter really over for this area? I have lilies pushing up through the mulch and pansies blooming. Not sure what happened to all of those tulips I planted. Haven't seen hide or hair of them yet. I have a feeling they are not going to make it.

Things have been a little off around here since Christmas and I am hoping that spring will give Aud and I both a little "get up and go".

I made a "pact" to start on a Basket Quilt in February with Sharie. Then life stepped in, with a huge "gotcha" laugh and said, no, no, no, you have to wait awhile. So it has been a while and I am hoping life will hide long enough to allow me to get a little caught up in my quilting.

I have collected batiks for several years, and these boxes represent the "smaller" pieces I have. All I can say to this is I had no idea I had this many, lol.

Of course I have to make the quilt at least queen size so I got out the glue and made some copies and made my pattern larger. Lots of baskets!

This is the selection I came up with, who knows, it may change. The lights are the background, and the handles are the green in the bottom right hand corner. I am going to "try" to do them one block a week, and even as I say this, I know it isn't going to happen. However, I am going to try.

I guess this is my design wall this week. Visit Judy at Patchwork Place for links to what others are doing.

Nag, Nag, Nag

2011-01-15T22:38:00.001-06:00

My personal assistant has informed me I have to blog about something, even if it is to state that this blog is under investigation, lol.

I have been hiding out during the holidays for one reason or another, but they are past now and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. And so begins 2011.

Aud and I are doing ok. We have survived a rocky beginning to the New Year due to several lovely incidents.

We had a slab leak occur a couple of weeks ago, so ended up with a huge plumbing bill to reroute the hot water pipes from the hot water heater in the garage to the kitchen via the front bath. Now that has been repaired, and the wood floor in my small sewing room is ruined. To re-do the floor I will have to move everything out of that room. Including what is in the closets! Hello!!! I don't think I want to do that. I am in a dither just thinking about it.

And, the dishwasher we put in during our remodel has come loose from the cabinet it sits under so someone is coming to fix that on Monday.

And the header on the blinds that are on the patio doors is defective. The new one has come in and a workman will hopefully be here next week sometime to fix that.

And the small Frigidaire fridge/freezer I bought in August has stopped working, and I can't get the repairman for Frigidaire to return my calls.

And it is cold in this house. We can't use the fireplace because of the oxygen so we have 4 space heaters we are using as supplements throughout the house. Of course our weather is like everyone else's this year, just awful and cold. The pipe for ice in the fridge "freezed" it's little self up 3 nights running.

So, other than that, "person", how'd you like the show. (Wouldn't you know, I can't remember the name that is supposed to go in there.) :)

I did go to Houston on a fast 3 days trip the last week in December. And of course it rained the whole time we were there. I had forgotten how cold wet rain is in December. Got to my bones. Was looking forward to eating some decent Mexican Food while I was there, and didn't get to. I think Ninfa's has closed shop, couldn't find any of them open anymore. Did have some wonderful scallops at Landry's in The Woodlands. And I did visit It's a Stitch in Humble, a wonderful quilt store that I used to get to a lot when I lived down there.

I went with my oldest daughter. She drives like a "you know what", so I was a white knuckled flyer for 1056 miles. We did eat breakfast at a wonderful little restaurant in Huntsville located on the downtown square. It actually served real ham! And lots of it. Don't remember the name, but it is the only one there so you can find it I am sure. I reconnected with some old friends, and went by a couple of houses I had lived in, and looked for another one we lived in when Summer was 3 (that was a long time ago) and it was raining so hard we were afraid we would get stuck so we didn't go there.

Still working on my basket quilt. It is coming along, but nothing close enough to be shown. I do have 2 quilts out to the quilter so should have some pics eventually on those.

I think that is enough for now. Watching the NFL playoffs this weekend. Good games if you are into football.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead.

Baskets Everywhere

2010-12-06T11:56:00.001-06:00

Lots and lots of little 4 inch baskets. I am seeing them in my sleep, but I am enjoying the making of this quilt more than any I have made lately. Luna Notte and these little baskets are perfect for each other. This will be a large quilt of course. I can't seem to keep them small, lol.

This is as far as I have gotten this week. Not sure of the final layout. I am thinking I may put a small containment border in there somewhere to break up the pattern, and then add more baskets on around that border. That doesn't make much sense when I say it, but maybe you will understand. So far I have made 84 baskets, and I figure 84 more will probably do it.

Visit Patchwork Times for updates on Design Wall Monday. Thank you Judy for giving us a place to post our progress on our quilting projects. Helps keep me focused on getting some quilting accomplished.

Just a Small Quilt for Design Wall Monday

2010-11-29T00:53:00.000-06:00

It was only going to be a small quilt. Just make a little something from the fabric that I absolutely adore and had resisted buying because I have so much already and am trying to be "oh so good" this year.

Well, that "ain't gonna happen", I guess.

First of all, I saw a picture of this little quilt on a blog from I Have a Notion. It was hanging in a booth at Houston. Looked on the web and finally stumbled upon it on PickleDish and the order was placed.

This is what I am toying with as far as layout is concerned, but I have a couple of other ideas in the back of my head, so I have to get some more of this. I just love, love, love it! It looks like it is going to be a "blended quilt", which I think is truly my favorite of all quilt types.

Thank you Judy for providing a place to share, and I am working on my stash busting, just fell off the wagon for this collection, lol.

I Think I am Just Going to Give Up

2010-11-08T17:57:00.000-06:00

Evidently, the powers that be have decided I am not supposed to have tulips in my yard.

I have a friend that helps me works the yard coming on Wednesday to set out tulips and pansies, pull weeds and mulch the flower beds and basically get the yard buttoned down for the winter.

I am feeling a little better and today was trying to get the house "cleaned" up so the cleaning lady can come tomorrow, and I can't find the sack with the bulbs in them! 60, yes 60!, tulip bulbs, have been patiently waiting for me to plant them for 6 weeks! I had put them in a corner of the front hall besides a weight scale that sits there that nobody uses. I have no idea how long they haven't been there, but they are there no longer, and nobody else has been in the house!

I could just cry! She has broken two things I made that I cannot replace and ruined the front hall floor in a couple of places by putting rags with chemicals on them on the tiles. I have told her several times not to put things on the tile, but that goes through one ear and out the other, and of course, for some reason cleaning ladies do not understand you don't put cleaning supplies on chairs either, especially light colored ones. I live in absolute fear of a catastrophe every time she walks in the door. And she has been working for us for almost 3 years, but I think this may be the last straw, unless she chooses to replace the tulips.

We have tried Merry Maids, and that is just throwing money away. I guess we got spoiled when we lived in Texas. We had the most wonderful person who cleaned for us. Any wonderful person living out there that wants to do some cleaning for a couple of cranky old ladies, actually one is just old, the "other one" is cranky and old! :)

If you hear the earth shaking, it is only me having a "hissy fit", as my Texas friend would remind me that that is what we Texans have.

Nights at the Old Ladies' House

2010-11-06T05:19:00.000-05:00

I am not even sure how we arrived at this state. It is now almost 5 o'clock Saturday morning, and both Aud and myself have laughed ourselves into hysterics, which, if you are as old as we are, leads to "problems", lol.

I started getting ill last Saturday and by Tuesday I gave up and, after voting, went to the good old doctor. Diagnosed with bronchitis and all the attending symptoms I was sent home with prescriptions and an ever "enlarging cough".

I have spent the whole week coughing my head off, taking pills, sleeping, catching up on all of the taped segments of American Chopper, Chopped, Pawn Stars, and American Pickers, and whatever else I could find to do that required no effort because I have truly been sick.

We did find a cute movie on Thursday night called How to Tame a Dragon. It was light fare and very enjoyable. We also watched Sex and The City 2 which had some eye popping scenes in it. I never watched Sex and the City when it was a regular on TV, but Aud had, and she says that was always the way things happened.

So, at 10 pm tonight, Aud and I had nothing left to watch on television. After our baths, we started trying to catch up on some movies that looked like they might be decent. We watched A Good Woman from 2004 with Scarlett Johansson and Helen Hunt that was a great little movie based on a book written by Oscar Wilde.

Ok, looked at the preview of Knocked Up (Unedited)-2007, and since Katherine Heigl was in it, it appeared to be funny, and we both like funny movies. Five minutes into this movie, yes it is funny, but f words and other instances that seem to have become a staple of today's movies, have us both wondering if we are watching a porn station by mistake. It is a little difficult to watch some of the things that go on in movies with your 94 year old mother sitting beside you and she is laughing her head off and you are coughing so much you are choking, but the plot was kind of funny, and Katherine is a good actress, so we watched it through. Wow, I now know what unedited movies look and sound like.

Oh, it is only 2 am and neither one of us is sleepy, let's see what else we can find, here's one...with Hugh Grant, we both just love him, called Love Actually - 2003. Hugh Grant, with him in it it is bound to be suitable for little old ladies, right? Hah! It didn't actually take five minutes before we were watching lots of sex going on in different scenarios, and laughing our fool head offs because we were watching this movie and actually enjoying it, it was funny, and just kind of squirming our way through the sex parts. I am still amazed at what is actually being shown in movies anymore.

Evidently little old ladies aren't supposed to watch movies unless they are the old black and white ones that were very classy and we have seen a million times, or the animated ones for children.

When we finished watching the Hugh Grant movie and decided enough was enough, we should go to bed, Aud's ending remark was:

"You can't go out of town, you have to stick around to pick out movies for us tomorrow night!"

Eating Out in OKC

2010-10-27T17:54:00.000-05:00

This is what is known as a rant. DO NOT take this personally if you live in or around Oklahoma City, this is my personal opinion and I stand behind it.

The cooks in the "chain restaurants" up here evidently all went to the school of "just cook it and they will come, and it doesn't matter whether it tastes good or not". The local restaurant cooks evidently went to the same school.

When I moved to OK my daughters told me not to find fault with anything up here and I have tried very hard to not find fault with anything up here. However, I have lived here for 9 years now and I feel like I can complain if I want to.

I love the people, they are, for the most part, very nice. I actually love the weather. Having come from the Houston, TX area, you can appreciate the change of seasons, and all of the outdoor activities available, and the professional sports teams we have, and the good old Sooners and Cowboys! Great college football, and all of the amenities available for those who row and swim, etc. Also, OKC has such far-seeing people at the helm of things, it is a great place to live, EXCEPT FOR the restaurants.

I can't speak for the very expensive restaurants because I can't afford to eat there. Take that back, I did eat at The Ranch, and if I could eat there every night I would think I had died and gone to heaven. But, alas, my ship sunk way before it reached the shore, so I am doomed to the "food" found in the local chain restaurants and those that attempt to make it in the restaurant business.

I have eaten mainly in the NW part of OKC, and there is nothing within a 30 mile radius that qualifies as a decent place to eat.

Today was a prime example. A friend and myself went to a tearoom in Bethany. I have eaten there twice before. The first time, about 2 years ago, the food was very good. 3 months ago, it was edible. Today it was plain out BAD!! You know when you walk in a restaurant at noon on a weekday and only 4 tables have people seated, and the last time you were there the place was full, that you should leave immediately.

I have been known to send food back and have talked to lots of owners, managers, etc of eating establishments, and expressed my displeasure. For some reason it always embarrasses my family. As I tell them, if I am paying good money for this food, it should be edible.

Anyway, I have become more disciplined as far as sending food back, so I am trying. Today, though, we both ordered a sampler plate with tuna salad, chicken salad on croissant, green salad, and a quiche of the day. Normally I don't eat tuna out because I can't stand the smell of what is called tuna anymore. It smells dead!

I took one bite of this tuna salad, caught a waitress going past, and had her remove all traces of it from my plate. Then I tried to eat the rest. The croissant was old, crumbly and cold. The quiche was awful, as bad as the one I made last week, lol, actually I think it was worse. There was no green salad because it had been put under the inedible tuna. The chicken salad was ok, nothing special, and the little "dessert" that had been frozen had been frozen for so long there was a ring of ice around it, lol. The raspberry tea was good. The muffin served with apricot (I think) butter would have been good, but I think it was old also. And cold.

The waitress showed up eventually and I asked her about the green salad, and she said it had been on the plate, and she did not know I had sent it back. Ok, she brings me a salad, I put the dressing on it, which was good, and take a bit of it. Wrong thing to do.

Waitress stops back by, fills up my tea, and asks if all is ok. No, just take it away. Not fit to eat. And left it at that. Did not ask to speak to anyone about the food! SO, the owner shows up and asks the problem is.

And I, having lots of tact, tell her the food is awful, you need a new cook. She smiles and says , my husband is the cook, to which I reply, then he needs a refresher course.

Let me go taste the food....and she leaves.....

A few mintutes pass, the waitress comes by, picks up our tickets, and says you will not be paying for your food, hope you try us again sometimes. Thank you for coming.

The owner NEVER came back. We sat there for a while and chatted, catching up on our lives, and then we left. I did not see anyone else come in while we were there and we left at 1:30.

If this post upsets you, that is just too bad, my opinion only, and I am entitled to that, I think. Anymore, maybe not.

Another Bernina in The House

2010-10-26T11:00:00.000-05:00

I seem to buy a new sewing machine every few years since I started quilting in late 1999. When I started quilting, I had the original 830 Bernina that I had sewed on for 30 years and it ran like a top, but was so heavy I couldn't lug it around. I had almost every extra foot for it and about 50 bobbins (seriously), the walking foot and the whole enchilada. So, I bought a small Janome to use for classes which worked pretty good.

About a month later I could stand it no longer, so I traded in the 830 (I know, I know, and I knew it at the time, lol) and bought a Bernina 150.

That sufficed until I fell in love withe a Pfaff 2044 because of the integrated dual feed and sewed on it for a while, then traded that up for the 2056, which I upgraded to a 2058 last year.

Sold the Bernina 150 because I had stitched through my finger with it and it took me forever to get my finger out and I had to go get a tetanus shot and I was very leery of that machine after that. There was nothing wrong with it, just me.

A couple of years ago I sold the little Janome to my hairdresser for her daughter so she would have a sewing machine to learn to quilt on. She was 10 at the time and is really a good little seamstress.

Then I decided I should have kept the Janome so I bought another one to use for classes, lol. I still have that one.

Four years ago I bought a BabyLock that only sews with a straight stitch and has a large interior space and a grace sewing frame so I could quilt my own quilts. Changed my mind on that real quick but kept the machine and I still have that one too, only I have never used it. One of these days I am going to use it with the Flynn frame that I have had for a few years. Must be prepared for all possibilities you know.

Then I decided I wanted a small Bernina to use for piecing , satin stitching and blanket stitching. So last year I bought a Bernina 220.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I got hungry for the larger Bernina because I wanted the controlled tension and that way I could have a Bernina in each of my sewing areas, so I bought a 440. I really, really llike this machine. It is wonderful to sew on.

Now I am going to bid adieu to the Pfaff as I need to get rid of at least one of these machines, and it really is too good of a sewing machine to not be used. Anybody interested?

Design Wall Monday

2010-10-25T13:18:00.000-05:00

I actually have something to show this week. Here is a picture of it, and
Here is a link to others that participate in this event each week. Thanks Judy for hosting this each week. It is one of the reasons we just love you!

Aud Tales

2010-10-25T11:00:00.001-05:00

Dinner conversation:

I just hurt all over, and my back is really bothering me and and I need a brace
Ok, I will take you to the doctor. You really need to see a bone specialist
No, no bone doctors. It will be better by the time we see Dr. Berner in 3 weeks.
By then you will have forgotten what is wrong with you now.

Well, my body is shrinking...
What do you mean, your body is shrinking?
Well, my bones are falling down, and so my body is falling down and my skin is sagging. It needs something to hold it up

laugh....did it occur to you that maybe if you quit eating ice cream you might not have sagging?
No, I just need something to hold up the skin until it shrinks like my bones are doing.

laughing harder now.....ok, Aud, how about if I get the exercise stretchy thing and we tie it around your ribcage to hold up the extra skin? Then you would have a bumper pad to keep you from breaking bones when you are wobbling down the hall from side to side

both of us are now laughing hysterically.......yeah, let's try that, maybe it will knock some of it off....

are you ready for ice cream now? :)

A Little Quilting Going On

2010-10-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

Design Wall

I have actually gotten some quilting done this week. Dug out another quilt that I started a couple of years ago, and started putting the borders on it.

I am so pleased with the way this looks. It is from a pattern called Diamond in the Rough by Debby Caffrey (I think that is the name) and I took a class from a local teacher a couple of years ago to learn how to do this quilt. Of course I didn't do mine like everyone else did, lol.

I am going to add 4 inch squares of the patterned fabric on the long sides to make the width better. This fabric is all Thimbleberries, and I have so much of it that I am going to piece something for the backing. That will use up another 10 yards about.

Aud Tales

2010-10-23T11:00:00.001-05:00

Background...Miss Aud and I have lived in the same house for the last 20 years except for the first year I lived in Oklahoma. Up until the middle of last year Aud did the cooking. I occasionally cooked but the way the kitchen was set up was for a right handed person who should have been left handed, if that makes sense. Plus everytime I cooked I had someone looking over my shoulder, so it was just easier to clean up the kitchen after we ate and forget about it unless she needed help, which did happen occasionally.

So now I am cooking. That is one reason we have a new kitchen, couldn't stand the old one..there was no room and I spread out when I cook. Mom says I make the biggest mess in the world other than one of her older sisters when she was alive. I don't agree, but what do I know.

Our "supper/dinner" tonight was green salad and quiche. I don't particularly like the recipe she uses for quiche, so I got out the Cotton Country cookbook from Monroe LA, which is wonderful!... and found 3 quiche recipes in it. I wanted onions, bacon, and gruyere cheese in it and by combining all three recipes I figured it would work out ok.

Aud,how much bacon do you usually use in your quiche?
12 pieces
12 pieces? this recipe calls for 4
Well I use 12.

Ok, twelve it is. I cooked the bacon, and then added it, the gruyere cheese, onions I had sweated in butter, half and half, and 4 farm eggs that a friend of mine gave me a couple of days ago. The recipe also called for a pre-baked pie shell, and I knew the filling was going to be a little more than a pie shell would hold, so I got out the deep dish pie shell, unrolled the pie crust, put it in the plate, pricked some holes in it, and stuck it in the oven for 10 minutes. Well, duh! The darn thing shrank. Of course it shrank! That is what pie shells do, right? That is why you crimp them around the outside of pie shells.
Ok, so it will just seep over, this is a non stick pan, no problem. Well, actually it didn't have a lot of flavor, but was a little too salty for our taste , and I didn't add any salt.

I sure will be glad when you learn to cook again....
Well, you told me 12 piece of bacon
Well, it depends on what size, these are big pieces of bacon
Well, you didn't mention that, Aud
Would you have put 12 pieces of the size I used in your recipe?
Oh, probably
I will work on this recipe some more...or find the one I used to make when I cooked 20 years ago. I love a good quiche.

Next up was my favorite pecan pie. The recipe for it is also in the Cotton Country cookbook. It is called the Best Ever Pecan Pie, and it really is. The filling is made with browned butter, and I always get it really really brown, so the flavor is very rich.

Hmm, my pecan pies don't look like this and I have used that recipe before.
Yes, but you never brown the butter as dark as I do.
Well, it sure is greasy. Sure will be glad when you learn to cook again.
Oh, dear..... this pie is so rich you can't eat much at one time, but it is very buttery. I think I will decrease the butter by about 2 tablespoons.

A picture of my very delicious pecan pie.

In a past life I was an excellent cook, and Aud cannot understand how in the world I have forgotten how to cook... as she says, it's like riding a bicycle.....but the last time I rode a bicycle I fell off, so I guess I haven't figured out how to get on that bike again.

Ms Aud turns 94!

2010-10-22T23:51:00.000-05:00

Miss Aud had her 94th birthday on Monday October 11th. I asked my daughters if they wanted to drive to Dallas with us to eat seafood at Pappadeau's on the Saturday before.

On the Friday before, we went to the oxygen place to pick up some small "on demand" oxygen canisters to take with us to Dallas so there would be oxygen available if needed.

Aud wanted some fried chicken from Popeye's, so we stopped on the way home from the oxygen place and ate some. It didn't taste just right to me but food hasn't tasted right in a while, so I didn't think too much about it. Well, around midnight, I did think about it, but I was ok by around 4. Poor Aud, she wasn't, and Saturday morning she was just not able to go with Summer and I to Dallas. My younger daughter had previous commitments and was not able to join us.

Aud, do you want us to bring you something? No......

We drove to Dallas and went to Pappadeau's. We had a wonderful meal. I ate fried crab claws and crab cakes with crawfish, and Summer had scallops. And we had Greek Salad, and rolls and butter, and their wonderful fried onion rings, and it was scrumptious!!!! Both of us ate "the whole thing" and it was enormous, lol.

We left OKC at 9:30 and were back in OKC by 5:30.......

....what did you bring me to eat?
...nothing, you said you didn't want anything....
...well, I started to call you, but I figured you would bring me something
..sorry

So now we are going to go to Dallas "the first day I feel good enough to go"......
and she hasn't been feeling super good for the last week so we haven't gone yet, but I am ready.....

That is the only thing I really miss about Houston, other than my friends there.

A Little History

2010-10-22T01:06:00.000-05:00

Aud turned 94 a couple of weeks ago, which makes me 71 now. The reason I say this is because I am watching a lot of tv with her and our choice of programs is a little strange, to say the least. It got me to thinking about how much time I was wasting watching tv.

The first tv I ever saw was when I was 12 years old (1951 ?) and was staying with my "grandma" for the summer. She lived in Texas a little west of Fort Worth, and it was hotter than you know what, and she did not have an air conditioner. We went to visit her brother (he was the town banker then) and they had a tv and ac. lol. The screen was about 12 inches square, the picture was black and white, the program was Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and the tv cabinet was enormous! I didn't care for that program then, I thought it was silly. Maybe that is why tv was never very important to me growing up.

I think I was a junior in high school, which would have been 1956, when we first got a tv. It was only a black and white and I don't think it was bigger than 12 inches either, and Aud and I would sit about 2 feet in front of the screen and watch the Steve Allan show, and I Love Lucy. That was the era of live tv and those were the funniest shows I have ever seen. It was wonderful comedy and you had to see it to believe it because you wouldn't see it again for a long, long time. I don't remember watching anything else during those years, and certainly didn't have a tv for several years after I got out of school. That was also the time of the "don't sit too close to the tv, it isn't good for you, yada yada yada".

Don't remember watching tv after that. I didn't seem to have time to watch a program all the way through, therefore didn't ever start watching one to begin with. I do remember having one when the girls were 2 and 5, and they watched cartoons on tv, and Kookla, Fran and Ollie were still on and I still didn't like them, lol.

We took a tv to Europe when my husband was deployed to Germany after serving in Vietnam. Not sure why, because we never had it hooked up until the winter olympics the year they were held somewhere in France, don't remember the town, but we watched them in German, lol. The only other time we watched any tv while in Europe was sitting in a bar in Barcelona watching a bullfight while we were on vacation and it was raining and the weather was awful. And it was in Spanish. :)

After that, things were always too busy and I still didn't watch tv because I couldn't watch any program from beginning to end for one reason or another. The girls watched Saturday Night Live and to this day still talk about how funny that program was "back then". I tried watching it not too long ago, and I guess I am just not into that type of humor.

Forward to the year 2000, still not watching tv, but big life changes happened. My husband passed away after a long and difficult battle with diabetes and heart problems, I got laid off from work, took a job in OKC, and moved from the Houston area. Ms Aud stayed behind to sell the house.

When I moved to OKC, I packed my car for what I thought was going to be 2 months at most that I would need clothes etc, before the rest of my belongings would be here. Must have known that was going to be wrong, because I packed my "stash" and sent it ahead via the mail to one of my daughter's I packed some of my clothes, my sewing machine, an iron, a small tv, a small ironing board, some quilting equipment (rulers, etc) and I think I bought one box with the minimum cooking stuff. All I could carry anyway.

I moved into a one bedroom apartment that was pretty large, and was furnished with a lounge chair, a long narrow tv table, and a bed that my daughter let me use. The next day I went to the local Bernina dealer and bought a table for my Bernina, and a cutting table. They were kind enough to deliver them, probably because I told them I couldn't buy them otherwise. And then I started my new job.

The people that I was around at work were watching ER every week and were always talking about it, and since I was living by myself and really didn't have anything to do I started watching that show on my little tv. And I could watch the whole show from beginning to end because there was nothing to disturb me. But wait! I didn't know what had happened to the characters before I started watching it.

So, I went to Ultimate Electronics, bought a 23" (I think that was the size) and a Tivo! Wow! I found the old ER shows on TNT and there were 3 hours of them a day! So I sat that Tivo to taping them and it took me several months, but I finally got caught up on the characters. I would rush home, grab something to eat, plop myself in front of the tv and watch George Clooney and Margolis, don't remember her first name, for 3 hours and it was fascinating! After I finally got caught up on the characters and the old shows, I think that was about the time Clooney quit. I lost interest, thank heavens, and got some quilting done for a while.

It took a year for our house to sell and then Ms Aud moved up here, and we moved to this house, and I am forwarding this tale to now.

Aud watches a lot of tv and one day not too long ago I wandered into her room and she was watching Orange County Choppers. I was horrified at the language and all of the drama, but watched a couple of the shows with her, and I was hooked. I had gotten rid of the Tivo several years ago and had a DVR on the tv in my room. We couldn't watch these dramas in there, so I got us another DVR for the living room, and started taping the older shows so I could catch up on the characters again. Deja vu. For the last 3 or 4 weeks now I have been taping 4 hours of OCC a day, Monday thru Friday, lol. And now there is one hour on Thursday nights. These all have to be watched, of course, so I am spending a lot of time in front of the tv one more time. I will be glad when this is caught up so I can get back to some serious quilting.

Think I have an "addiction" problem? Yes, I think I must. It's a good thing I am retired, huh.

Aud Tales

2010-09-29T15:02:00.000-05:00

Some days around here are really good and some days are complete bummers.

Mother (Aud) is trying desperately to get off of oxygen. She will go about 3 days only using it at night and then she will have a day that she is almost completely out of it as far as knowing what is going on. We were at the doctor's last week and her pulsox is up to 94 which is great for her.

So, it was decided she could go to concentrated oxygen, commonly called "air on demand". An appointment was made with the oxygen providers to see if she was "eligible" to do this. Not sure what constitutes eligibility. Another bunch of paperwork for sure.

Here she is discussing how to use this device, and working with the method you use to get oxygen.

There are lots of choices to be made and we were there for 2 hours. She still has to use the main oxygen
machine at night because it pumps oxygen continuously.

The machine used to fill these small bottles sits on top of the big machine. I posted a picture of this setup when we first got it; it hasn't changed at all, sorry to say.

We get it all home, I try to fill up the little guys and finally call the company because I can't get them filled. A very nice man comes to the house, and of course, the damn bottle was not closed and that is why it wouldn't fill. Never dawned on me to check that. I felt like an idiot. Plus, the machine was making lots of racket and I was going crazy.

I ended up moving the oxygen setup to the spare bedroom we created when I repurposed some rooms during the remodel . Of course the room still isn't straight, but at least the oxygen is in a place where I can close the door and I don't hear it all the time.

Mother still has trouble trying to figure out which button to press to turn off the big machine, and half the time, if I don't check on her, she doesn't turn it on or off at the right time. I remember when my husband got to the point where it was hard for him to breathe, and he was doing silly things like mother is now. It is really worrying and you have to be vigilant all the time.

That is why some days are good and some are bad. I was so hoping she would be getting better and really wouldn't need the oxygen except at night. I guess that is not going to happen, at least as soon as we were both hoping. And her legs are bothering her bunches, and she fell again and is very sore all over.

Took her to the doctor to be sure there wasn't a blood clot in her leg from her fall. She has an enormous bruise now. He said just to put wet heat on it a couple of times a day, and bathing in our "spa tub" would help. Of course she hasn't done any of that yet.

Helped me carry in some groceries last night and promptll had a nose bleed about an hour later. Not sure how I am going to handle getting groceries into the house. I am having so much trouble with my left arm...I think my rotator whatever it is called is really screwed up for some reason and I have difficulty carrying anything that weighs anything also.

Hmm, think I will scream a couple of times, and go get some of Cornwell's books from the library and continue my education of the 7th century England.

September Flora

2010-09-28T12:00:00.022-05:00

The yard has looked pretty good the past week since we have finally had something besides high 90s temperature wise.

Some of the azaleas have started their autumn blooming.

Aud felt good enough to wash off the back porch. I won't ever do that and she keeps hinting and finally
does it herself. :)

Here is the view that I see when I am at my sewing machine. So very peaceful and I just love it. I have wanted to use this area to sew in ever since we moved into this house 9 years ago.

Design Wall Monday

2010-09-27T21:48:00.001-05:00

It is finished !!! Too big for the design wall, so I am using bed to show it finished. Not going to put any borders on it, it will be too big for the bed, lol. Think I will bind it with strips of all the blues used in the quilt. As for the backing, I am thinking pieced...not sure if I will use only the beiges in the quilt or if i will use all the colors. Probably only beiges. I guess it will depend on what I decide to do when I cut the strips.

I am really excited to get this quilt done! And it even looks better than I thought it would, which is a pleasant surprise, lol.

Thanks to Judy for providing encouragement to at least do some quilting every week!

Hope everyone is off to a great start this week.

Design Wall Monday

2010-09-20T20:05:00.001-05:00

Updated photos of Road to Oklahoma
quilt.

Thank you Judy, for providing a place to for this every week.

One of these days I will be through with this quilt I hope. My piecing sure isn't looking real good these days.

Finally broke down and bought a new iron. My expensive Rowenta bit the dust, (those irons are not worth the money), so I found a good old Black and Decker on Amazon, and it is great. Not super heavy, but enough so, and automatic settings for steaming, and I am very happy with it.

Spent the weekend watching football games with Aud and reading.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first book of trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I read it several months ago and finally got around to reading the other two.

The Girl Who Played with Fire was read Saturday evening until 6 am on Sunday.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was read Sunday evening until 4 am on Monday.

I really enjoyed these. I know everyone else has probably read them, but I can't read like most people, when I start a book I want to finish it. So, that is done.

I have downloaded a book called The Last Kingdom by Bernard Caldwell from Amazon for my Ipad. It is the first book of the Saxon Chronicles Series. I guess I will tackle it soon.

I love historical novels, especially those dealing with King Arthur. He was real, right? lol

There is a story there, but not now. This is already too long.

Hope everyone's week is going well. I am going to watch Dancing with the Stars, :)

Second Tuesday

2010-09-14T17:56:00.000-05:00

I finally got to go to quilting group I belong to called Second Tuesday. A small group of quilters that belong to the Central Oklahoma Quilter's Guild and meet once a month. There are some fine quilters in this group. These are some of the quilts and projects that were shown the past two months.

It's Monday Again!

2010-09-13T23:52:00.000-05:00

Well, as I write this Monday is almost over, but I have to show my Design Wall, such as it is. I didn't get a lot done, but this will have to do for now. I have two more rows finished, but the are not sewn together yet, and then I have two more rows of blocks to sew together plus the bottom row to finish out the stars. Thank you JudyL for always encouraging us to at least quilt a little bit every week.

We did have a busy weekend, full of football games, and I tried to get a little quilting done. Mostly it was football games though. OU won, OSU won, YEA!!!! and then we watched Sam Bradford almost win for the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

For those of you who don't follow football, this means nothing, but I love to watch Mr Sam throw that football. He has a great arm and since he played for OU (he also won the Heisman Trophy last year) I have to watch him. And the Rams also picked up another good player named Mark Clayton who played for OU several years ago, don't remember which NFL team he was playing for before now.

And see this? Guess who got to wash sheets for Aud on Sunday? Me! lol....evidently I became a little older this week so therefore I have a new responsibility, :) Didn't I do a good job? Just need to fold them, but I haven't graduated to that yet, thank goodness!

I forgot to take pictures, but I also made up a batch of "chili" and we had homemade chili with hotdogs. They were so good. Every once in a while we get hungry for hotdogs and now that we have chili frozen maybe we will have those more often and maybe some frito chili pie, yum!!! I used two pounds of chopped sirloin and that will last us a good while. I quit using "chili meat" because it has too much gristle in it anymore. Haven't found any good in OKC, but probably I am not shopping at the best place for that.

One of my grandsons loves frito pie. He used to stay with me some when he was younger. His mother worked late and I would pick him up from daycare and bring him home and she would pick him up after she got off work. He always wanted frito pie, but not with canned chili. It had to be "homemade", lol.
I don't get to see him too often anymore, he lives in Dallas now. But everytime I make chili I think of him.

I hope this is a great week for all of us!

Aud Tales

2010-09-10T00:19:00.000-05:00

Thursday afternoon. I have been to exercise class. I go to Pacer's and I take classes that are designed for senior citizens. They are called Silver Sneakers and are comprised of people younger and older than I and are always full of wonderful ladies and a few gentlemen. Here are some pictures to show you some of the class area.

I hurried home from my class, after first stopping to get us a Starbucks, so I could take Aud to get some pants hemmed up before our hair appointments. They have needed to be hemmed up for a few months, but for some reason or another we never get there. Every time I plan to take her, something happens.

This time we got as far as getting the pants in the car, getting the oxygen in the car, getting her Starbucks coffee transferred from the store container to her acrylic Starbucks container, and getting her in the car. Then she tells me, I shouldn't have these taken up today, I am bloated and they won't fit. We can all relate to that, right?

So, we have 30 mintues to kill before our hair appointment. Here we both sit, drinking our Starbucks, and she is looking at mail and I am writing this.

Supposedly we are going to Dillard's after hair appointments. I will close this for now, but more later on the rest of this day.

Thursday continued.....as usual change happens, lol

We get our hair done. Mine has new purple in it. I look old and wrinkled in this picture, and tired to boot, but today it was the best I could do. I cannot quite comprehend how I got so old, lol.

This is Aud waiting for me to get through at Hair Salon. She looks younger than I do, she takes very good care of herself, lol.

This is Shelva, the sassy youngster that keeps us in hair cuts and purple and pink. Would you believe she has an 18 year old son?

Ooops, change of plan....

Aud decides we need to go to the shoe store. Notice there is no oxygen attached. It has been several weeks since she has been able to go without oxygen for very long, and we are both loving the freedom. She is in need of shoes that fit her better than what she has been wearing, and by better I mean not quite as high or wobbly, and they cannot be "old" looking, lol. So, we call and get an appointment and off we go.

How about these for houseshoes. I forgot to take a picture of the others she bought, but she wore one pair out, and looked pretty snazzy. It took her a few minutes to realize these were really one pair. At first she thought they were two, and thought the one on the left fit better, lol. That was pretty funny.

We love to go to this store. It is called Foot Solutions and we have been going there since they opened and they always treat us very well. A couple of years ago I locked my keys in the car and the owner was gracious enough to take me home, about 5 miles away, to get my other set, lol.

Aud has a very skinny foot and it is hard to find shoes that fit. When her ankles started swelling so much she had to quit wearing Ferragamos, which just about broke her heart. (I don't think that is spelled right) So we come here about once a year or so to buy shoes. I bought some houseshoes and some clogs that are made in Germany out of boiled wool. I just love them, and wear them in the winter with socks when I am bumming around. No pictures of these either.

Now that we have shoes, we skip Dillards for the moment because we are hungry. Abuelo's is one of the few restaurants left that we will still eat in, so that is were we go. Must keep our hands busy so we are playing slingo on our Iphone while we wait for our food, lol. It was wonderful We get enchiladas with no sauce and onions on top, and this is the only place we have found in OKC that serves chile con queso like we are used to. Very good meal, and a very pleasant one.

So Dillard's will be put off for another day. Aud is getting a little short of breath and I think she needs to get home. It has been a long day. I have a portable tank of oxygen in the car but she says she will be ok until we get home.

We watched New Orleans beat Minnesota and now Ms Aud is off to bed and I am heading that way shortly. It has been a very pleasant day and Aud is not fretting over her shingles or any other thing and is beating that deveil all over the place in Slingo.

Hope eveyone had a pleasant day also, and that tomorrow will be good for all of us!

It's Everywhere!

2010-09-09T14:37:00.000-05:00

When we remodeled I decided at that time to repurpose some rooms. Think I might have mentioned that, come to think of it.

As a result my quilting stuff seems to be everywhere. When I started hauling it out of the closet it was in, it just seemed to grow, lol. I have shown a pic of my main sewing area off of the kitchen, but thought someone might get a smile from knowing they aren't the only ones with a "fabric stash", lol. And every time I look at this wall of boxes, I say to myself, "what was I thinking!"

Each one of these containers contains a "quilt", except for the big tubs, and they are full of batiks and Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I don't think I will need any new fabric for a while, but it sure is hard to resist it. The book shelves contain some of my quilting books and some stuff I haven't decided where to put yet, lol. Recipes and recipe books are part of the stuff on the bottom shelves, but that's another story.

A friend of mine helped me organize my quilting books and magazines a couple of months ago. These have made the final cut and are in "order". There are 3 piles of quilting magazines in the garage I need to go through, and, I hate to say it, there are 3 piles of newer quilting books and magazines in my bedroom that need to be sorted out, lol. I guess they will slowly make their way to the garage or the bookshelves. Do you see a pattern here? First the living room or my bedroom, then shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, lol.

These are the closets in the above room. A lot of kits, Thimbleberries, Kansas Troubles, Fossil Ferns, and some "stash", and lots of backings live there, plus other "have to haves" for quilting.

These are pictures of another closet that contains "projects" and some wonderful fabrics that I just can't part with. I also have wips hanging on hangers on the door. You can see some of them.

Knowing I needed something to spruce up my sewing area off the kitchen, a very dear friend of mine gave me this for my birthday.

It makes me smile.

I don't think you can read the verse but maybe if you turn it sideways. I can't seem to get this imported with it turned. At this point I guess I am doing good to get it in period, lol.

Looking at these pictures make me tired. :)

Aud Tales

2010-09-09T00:28:00.000-05:00

I think I will just title these little bits and pieces Aud Tales, because that is exactly what they are...things that happened, mostly every day, of life with my wonderful mother. If you are reading this blog, you may find them boring, but I need to journal them for myself, if for no other reason.

"I need some eye drops.....

I got you some eye drops a week ago when you said you needed them.

No you did not, I never saw any.

Yes I did. From Walgreeen's when I got your prescriptions last week. They were in the sack with the candy I got you. Remember, you wanted Baush and Lomb(sp) and I called you from there to tell you they didn't have any of that brand and you said just get some? ...so I got Walgreen's brand....

Well, I know you didn't, I don't have any.

Mother, I did get you some eyedrops, I have no idea where you put them, but I did. I will get you some more today......."

I got her some eyedrops today while at the health food store getting her glucosamine and psyllium husks.
When I got home with them, I made sure she saw them, opened the box, squeezed the bottle to be sure she could since she can't squeeze things easily, and life was good. Oh, I also picked up two more prescriptions that she forgot to order yesterday when I had picked up four for her. Walgreen's knows me by sight.

Later on, while watching TV, Ms Aud informs me she owes me an apology. She found the eyedrops I bought her a week ago. They were on the table by her chair, but in the middle of some other things, and she did not see them. Her excuse was the cleaning lady always takes everything off of this table, dusts each item and puts it back, and the bottle had ended up in the middle of everything and she couldn't see it. Sounds like a great excuse to me, lol.

"Is tomorrow trash day? No, today is only Wednesday."

This and That

2010-09-07T21:10:00.000-05:00

Living with anyone is an adventure. Living with your mother should count as 2 adventures at the
same time I have decided. You live with them when you don't have any sense and then you live with them when you do have sense and they still don't think you have any sense, and you know THEY don't have any sense, they did at one time, but surely it is your time to have some, right? Well, not in this house, lol.

Sheets, waiting for Aud to wash them.

Sometimes I think she waits until I decide to wash and then she has to wash. This morning when I finally got up, which wasn't early because I am really having a difficult time with arthritis the last several days, I put a load of clothes in to wash. Then I put on a pot of steel cut oatmeal to cook and read the paper while I waited for it to cook. When Aud came to eat, she had these sheets with her.

....oh, you are washing....yes....why didn't you let me wash these yesterday.....well, you were busy...I asked you if you needed anything washed, and you said no...well I didn't want to bother you...oh, give me a break, Aud, how would that bother me? Ahhh, I remember now, you don't like the way I wash your sheets, do you? (very coy grin and small laugh) No, I don't. Fine, wash your own sheets.
And so it goes.

I did try to get some sewing done. I am determined to get this Road to OK, aka Road to Texas I have been told, finished. I have others I need to be working on. This is all I accomplished in about 4 hours. Sure doesn't seem like much. Of course since I am sewing on a different machine than I was 4 years ago, the seams aren't the same, and I am having to resew some areas in order to keep the silly thing half way even as far as seams meeting. I can sure tell I don't sew as straight as I used to. So I have 6 rows sewn together, just 4 more to go, and the bottom half row to make the stars even out, and then I can put them all together. Isn't there something out there about "steady wins the race"? :)

I cooked tonight and made something called BLT pasta. It is absolutely delicious!

I made it with pancetta, grape tomatoes, leeks and spinach.
I served it with fetticini, but the recipe calls for bucatini. See the homemade bread crumbs behind it? That is part of the recipe.

I found this recipe in Cuisine at Home, Issue 63. It is a part of Volume 11, as is this wonderful cake called Autumn Spice Cake in Issue 65. If you like to cook, this whole volume has scrumptious recipes in it.

Looks like we are going to get some of the rain from Hermine tomorrow, so I went to Walgreens to pick up Aud's prescriptions and some tylenol for me (having to supplement the mobic), and some Cherry Garcia. They actually had 3 cartons! wow! Would sure like to know who is buying all of it. It is getting harder to find.

I have gotten hooked on America's Got Talent because of the youngster that sings so well. Of course, I don't remember her hame. So, here I sit, doing nothing. Think I will work on my embroidery.

Out Out Damn Spot

2010-09-07T14:00:00.013-05:00

aka HP printers! aka the final piece of the computer triumvirate I have come to absolutely detest.

This HP is about 6 years old I think, and has always printed very well and photos have always come out great but it is a PITA to install, at least for me. I have had some problems with my wireless modem and every time I have had to buy a new modem or change anything, I have lost the "wireless connection" to my HP printer. Well, since we have this oxygen machine in the house and it is called a "disturber", I had to buy another modem about 3 weeks ago. For some reason the plain jane ATT wireless modem does not have enough "Finleys" to keep "disturbers" at bay. Don't ask me for explanations of these technical terms, call a tech, lol.

So, of course, I lost the print connection. It was so easy to get it installed when I first got my Mac, but this time I could not get the connection to jell. I put off printing anything until I thought I was ready to attempt the installation. Well, that was today.

I had been doing some research this past week on the best printer to use with the Mac and had come to the conclusion that Epson seemed the most compatible, and I promised myself I would get one if I did not have any luck installing the HP when I got around to the attempt.

For any of you who have suffered the frustrations of dealing with HP's "tech service" or trying to download their updated drivers without screaming, or have dealt with any of their manuals, you will be nodding your head when I say "I have had it with HP!!"

And that is what I said after three hours. Soooo, I got in my car, went to Staples and bought myself a new Epson. Did not get one with a fax as I have no telephone number to attach it to, so it was cheap.
And it isn't heavy. AND, I got it installed!

Since the older I get the more computer illiterate I become, it took me a couple of times reading the instructions to finally stumble through the right combination of numbers etc to get it done, but it is done!!

The print quality is probably not as good as the HP but since I print mostly recipes and quilt instructions, it is fine. Have not tried it on photos yes, but for now I am a happy camper!

Design Wall Monday

2010-09-06T14:20:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a non-labor Labor Day. Not I, said the Little Red Hen. Today was the scheduled day for a lady that does cleaning for us and so she came. I got her to help me move some furniture around which means I may get my bedroom together sooner than later as a result. I have too much "C@#$" and I keep shuffling it from one room to another in case I can find a permanent place for it, lol. I move furniture out to the garage (I have room now since we only have one car) and if it lives out there for a couple of months then I send it to Habitat for Humanity or Vietnam Vets.

But I digress as usual. The object of this post was to show my design wall per JudyL's Monday feature.
I actually have less on wall than last week, but I finally have finished all of the blocks and have it coded so I can sew the rows together. Didn't get a lot done this past week and it looks like it is going to be that way this week, but I can only hope. My arthritis is also giving me fits in my hands. Not good for quilting!

I am finally beginning to be excited about this quilt. I haven't quite figured out the borders on it yet. Still mulling that over. And I am going to piece the back...I have so much patriotic fabric I need to use some of it up.

"The Tub"

2010-09-05T14:00:00.002-05:00

Part of our remodeling was done to make the bathrooms more user friendly for our tired old bones. We put in a new shower for Aud with grab bars, fixtures that allow her to keep the water the same all of the time and can be held, and "towers" on the walls to put soap etc in. You only have to step up about 2 inches to get into it and that also helps. Didn't really take any finished pictures of it, but this will give you an idea of what it looks like,

It is very well done and I don't worry about her falling. There are 3 grab bars in there.

And then, we added "The Tub". Aud had fallen 3 times in a week, and the last time she had fallen it was a very bad fall and she was black and blue. For about 4 weeks I was afraid she was not going to recuperate from it, so we decided to put in a walk-in tub with pulsating jets that massage and are just wonderful for people with arthritis etc. It is like having your own private water therapy. Just what the doctor ordered.

After about 20 minutes in this you feel like a limp dishrag you are so relaxed. Both of us are really enjoying the benefits.

Football Season Again!

2010-09-04T23:24:00.000-05:00

It's Pepto Bismal time again in Sooner land, lol. I love to watch the Sooners play football, but they sure do give me a lot of anxiety!

Aud likes OSU football more than she does the Sooners, probably because my oldest daughter and her husband are graduates of same. And I am always reminded by my oldest daughter that we don't have anyone in the family with OU ties, so why do I always root for the Sooners over OSU, and why do I watch their games. Because they are exciting? lol.

This may be about to change. Her oldest son is now a Junior at OU, so I may have a real good reason to root for OU in a couple of years.

All of this to say.......

Can you believe this? lol Two little old ladies with two televisions on watching two different games, and one of them was a pay per view! I think we have finally become real Okies!

Oh, and the ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia! The very best! I buy it 8 cartons at a time when I can find that many, most of the time I can only find 4. It is our comfort food I guess.

Kitchen Remodel

2010-09-03T02:05:00.004-05:00

I finally have taken the time to sit down and find some pictures that will show how booo--ti-ful our new kitchen looks. And it is so organized I just love it!.

It only took 3 months to get it done from start to finish, and Aud and I literally washed dishes in the bathroom sink because we had no running water in the kitchen and no appliances and 1 electrical outlet. lol......didn't fix anything to eat other than breakfast out of a box either.

After eating out during this time food from restaurants no longer tastes good. Plus, We have noticed that restaurants are changing their methods of cooking and the quality of ingredients they are using. I am not sure if this is due to the economy or what, but it is disgusting. And if I question the restaurant management I get the "I have been here for 10 years and it has always been cooked this way" Hah!! So untrue!! Food just "ain't what it used to be"!

I worked with the Kitchen Remodeling Department at Lowe's to redo the kitchen. I picked out the cabinets and their finish, hardware, and all of the appliances from them and had them install everything. They did a bang up job and I have been very pleased with the result. There were some time mishaps along the way, but these were mainly caused by Kitchen Maid Cabinets. The cabinets are very well made and I really like them, but we had to change out a couple of them and it made for some time delays. I put heavy duty pull out drawers in for bottom cabinets so I could keep from using my pot rack and they automatically close when you push them back in, lol.

I chose quartz for the counter tops because I loved the color with the cabinet color I had chosen and it is more scratch resistant and not as porous as granite. The backsplash is travertine with some random color tiles thrown in to tie in with the counter tops.

So now I have a wonderful kitchen to cook in and with my sewing machine being in the same vicinity I am a little more organized!

This was the before picture

Everything torn out. Look at the wallpaper, lol. From another era.

New kitchen cabinets, appliances and lighting installed.

A wonderful faucet. It works just like the ads say, and I truly love it!

This is the way it looks most of the time now. Notice the gel mats? They are wonderful for helping keep the legs from hurting while standing!

Now all I need to do is cook, lol.

Design Wall Monday

2010-08-30T23:31:00.000-05:00

This is on my design wall. It is called "Road to Oklahoma". I started it about 4 years ago and put it away when I got to this stage because I wanted to make it bigger, lol. Now I am determined to work on it and make the stars complete around the edges and get it done. It feels good to get something back up on a wall that shows some quilting progress. The last four months I have not had a design wall, lol. I can now join the group at Patchwork Times on Monday's when they show what they have been up to. Yea for me!

Mac Attack!

2010-08-30T10:00:00.001-05:00

During all of the stuff that has been going on the last three months, I finally got sick and tired of Microsoft and Dell and all of the "$##$%" that seems to be involved in keeping a computer going using these products, so......I went with a Mac! And, I love it!!! love it!!! love it!!! Even having to work with my AT&T DSL modem didn't seem to cause any problems! Amazing!

It took me all of five minutes to get my internet up and going, 5 more minutes to connect my wireless printer to my computer, and about 10 minutes more to load programs taking the place of Excel and Word and a publishing program. I was not sure whether the changeover would be a problem, but so far it hasn't been too bad and I am in seventh heaven! Things are really just so simple you don't expect it.

The graphics are awesome and the whole experience is so upbeat it is a pleasure to use a computer again.

I have had an IPhone for a year now, which I have now upgraded to IPhone 4, and then I treated myself to an IPad. Wow! I now have all of my music downloaded and all of my pictures on my IPad and my computer, and I have selected ones on my IPhone.

Of course Aud decided that she had to have an IPad too so we got her one and now she also can look at all of the pictures we took on our trip last year and all of the other pictures that I have taken in the last few years. Plus, she has access to all of my music.

We both are truly enjoying this ongoing adventure.

Trying to Catch Up

2010-08-29T18:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, I have decided I am going to try to get back to blogging. A certain friend of mine who shall remain nameless is insistent that I do this, and she has nagged me so much I am going to try. She even told me just to say I have gone on an extended vacation so people wouldn't keep looking at this empty blog, lol.

I haven't blogged in forever because we have been doing some remodeling to the house and Aud has been having some health problems.

I am glad to say the remodeling is done, and Aud seems to be on an even keel for now. She had some blood clots break loose in her legs and one ended up in her lungs in April, and she has been on coumiden to break down the clots since then. She is also on oxygen all of the time, but that seems to be getting better and she can stay off of her "tether" for a couple of hours or so each day.

Actually, the way things go around here, sometimes she is off longer than that, but not intentionally, lol. I think it's called, "hmmm, I forgot". She is having to take a lot of pills and in order not to miss some of them, I have "pill alarms" set on her Iphone (yes, Ms Aud has an Iphone) and we are continually looking for her Iphone to turn them off. Even that doesn't always help her remember to take her pills.

To look at Ms Aud in this picture you would think she was the picture of health, and at 93, if I should live so long, I hope I look as good as she does.

This is the dress she chose to wear to her last doctor's appointment. She did add a small jacket, lol.

I am afraid we won't be going on an extended vacation this year, I think both of us would even settle for a short one, but the oxygen need presents a problem, so we are taking short vacations in front of the TV.

So far we have traveled in Alaska with the Ice Road Truckers and gone "Pickin" with the American Pickers through the countrysides of several states, overseen the making of custom autos and motorcycles, and watched the "pawn" stars buy lots of strange things in Las Vegas.

We have also become a little more educated from watching Wild Russia, gotten hungry from watching some of the food shows, and helped a lot of people while they were looking for houses to buy. They didn't always follow our advice I am afraid.

Not getting much quilting done. I did dig out this quilt that I started about 4 years ago and am trying to get it finished up. It it called Road to Oklahoma and will be fairly large when I finish. Thinking about 85 or 90 square.

One of the things I did while we remodeled was repurpose some of the rooms in the house and I have made what was the breakfast area attached to the kitchen my main sewing area. I love the light and the window I can see out of and the proximity to the kitchen.

Ok, that is all for now. See you later!

Quilt drawing winners

2010-05-25T13:36:00.006-05:00

Thank you to all who donated. Almost $1,000 was raised to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!

Congratulations to Beryl who had winning ticket number 125 for the quilt made by Judy Laquidara:

And to Vicki M. who had winning ticket number 31 for the quilt made by Vicki Bellino:

Because of your support, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has over 30 therapies in their drug development pipeline. Many medicines in development will make treatment times shorter and more effective, but they still only treat the symptoms.

The most promising new therapies are small compounds that can potentially correct the underlying defect in the CFTR protein. They represent our best hope yet to control cystic fibrosis. On behalf of all people affected by CF, thank you for helping to further these efforts.

Just Another Day in May in Oklahoma

2010-05-16T23:17:00.000-05:00

These are not in the right order, but,,,,, most of these I took by taking pictures off of the tv....

Shows the hail that had accumulated and in some of the pictures you can see some fog that was caused by the hail hitting the hot ground

This was from my front door as it was passing over my house

From front yard as the storm was coming closer

Look how blue the sky was...lots of hail

Downtown OKC wrapped in rain and hail

More hail

Left picture is of hail taken in a neighborhood and the one on the right is my poor Forest Pansy Redbud swaying in the wind....it was pretty strong in spots.

It's almost Quilt Raffle Time!

2010-05-10T14:20:00.001-05:00

The deadline to donate for quilt chances is Monday, May 24th 2010, 5 p.m. CST.

If you haven't gotten any chances yet, time is running short! The quilts are just beautiful! Follow the link above to look at them again.

Here is a picture of Katy with her older sister Kyra. Playing in the yard and here comes the snake, lol. They live sorta "in the country" and all sorts of things wander by in their yard. This one they could catch. Not sure what happened to the snake. I don't think I wanted to know.

At Least the Yard Looks Good

2010-05-08T12:03:00.001-05:00

April was very, very stressful. Between Aud and her ER visits and being on oxygen and having reactions to medicines, it has been pretty stressful. However, when you add on the "Oh, let's remodel the kitchen", and "Oh, better get these rooms moved around before we close in the wall" , and "Oh, it's time to get the yard ready for spring", my hair is getting thin.

So, one of those Ohs is almost resolved. I need one more load of rocks, and then I am calling it done.

Forest Pansy Redbud tree and irises.

Front yard with azaleas blooming.

I think there are some better pictures of some of this, but it has taken me a week to get this post together so I need to get it done.

I think I might have goofed

2010-04-08T23:00:00.001-05:00

For those of you who follow Judy's blog, she posted about these rolls found at Fogo de Chao. Well, I finally got around to making them, but I don't think I did them right. These look pretty good here, however.

For one thing, I didn't mix the batter up real well, lol, and it sure made a mess in the bottom of my oven. (from the corn oil that overflowed I think). I have to giggle every time I think of that. We had just cleaned it about a month ago too.

So some of them were tough as nails, and one pan I couldn't even get out. Oh, and the recipe makes 5 pans of 12...that is a lot of rolls, even small ones, for 2 people, lol. I will try again because I am fascinated with them. I ate a dozen of them as it was. The cleaning lady took the rest of them home, not sure she liked them, but was probably afraid to say no, she didn't want them.

In another life I was an excellent cook. I am no longer. I don't remember how, for one thing, because Aud has done the cooking for the last 18 years until recently, and I have no memory. And hers was getting pretty bad (her cooking and her memory) and she decided she was through cooking, so I was elected. I am having to remember how to cook again. I am scouring the net and buying more cookbooks and slowly but surely am finding my way again. However, I have come upon a period where what I am cooking is not too good. I certainly hope that changes soon. Both Aud and I are fearful every time we sit down to eat one of my creations. These rolls are a prime example. My mind wanders off so much I forget where I am in a recipe. And with everything else that is going on, I am too tired to really think about it evidently. Sad thing is, we aren't losing any weight thanks to Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia.

Shingles!

2010-04-07T17:34:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post. I did take Aud to the doctor this afternoon and, yes, she has shingles. I am waiting on a prescription now.

The ultram she takes is helping a lot with the pain, and hopefully the script will make it a lot better.

What in the World is This?

2010-04-07T01:33:00.000-05:00

This just worries me to pieces. Aud has complained all day of her arm hurting her and she has aches and pains quite often from arthritis, as do I, and some days the pain is worse, so we both just attributed it to that. She takes 8 pills a day of Ultrim, which is a pain med, but it hasn't seemed to help. And since she had on a long sleeved t shirt all day neither of us noticed anything unusual.

Well, she took a bath a little bit ago, and just came in here and showed this to me. It looks like hives with little blisters all over. And just on her right arm. And it hurts. I have no idea what it is or what to do for it.

I think we are both hoping it will go away while we sleep. So weird. We haven't done anything out of the ordinary, although she did sit out on the back porch some yesterday while we were working in the yard, but I don't think that is what has caused this.

I think it may be from stress. A long time ago I had hives like this when my son decided to try to cut his fingers off by riding a rolling fence and he got his fingers caught in the rollers. Due to the presence of a great surgeon he did not lose his fingers or the dexterity of his fingers, but I had stupid hives for a year every time I got stressed over something.

Bless her heart, it seems to be one weird thing after another.

March Madness at OKPeri's

2010-04-06T00:38:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I posted, but March was "one of those months" evidently. A chronicle of events, not sure they are in the right order.

Most importantly, Aud ended up in the ER about 3 weeks ago (I think that is about right). She had not been feeling very good and was having trouble breathing. Sweet Mama did not want to go to the doctor. I finally started getting worried enough to ignore her wishes and she ended up in the hospital with blood clots in her lungs and left leg. Of course this happened on a Friday afternoon around 5, lol, and we spent about 7 hours in the ER before she was admitted. Was in there for 5 days.

I bought her home and now we have oxygen in the house because she is on oxygen full time. This is what the oxygen guys bring you when you have a tank running full time.

I did have to take her into the ER last Friday morning at 12 am. She is on coumidin (not sure of spelling) to dissolve the blood clots and if that particular medicine is not regulated it can be very bad. Her nose started bleeding profusely so I called 911 and within 7 minutes we had 5 firemen, 2 paramedics, firetruck and ambulance at the house. After she was stable she was transported to the hospital and after 4 hours we were allowed to go home. I think this scared her some, I know it did me. Coumidin is not a fun drug. It is basically rat poison I have been told.

Made a follow up doc visit today. Was informed she will probably be on coumidin from now on, but possibly will be able to be on oxygen only part time. So I do have hope that she will be ok, just a little limited in her activities. We have managed to go out to eat a couple of times, and her energy level seems to be getting better.

While all of this was going on, I was also taking care of decisions concerning a kitchen remodeling and painting project we have decided to do.

Ready for painting.....now finished. Will show finished when I get it all straightened up, lol.

Also, it is time for yard work. Below is a picture of the wonderful lilies I got from Oakes Daylilies in Tennessee. I bought lilies from them when I landscaped our house in Texas, and when I finally got around to doing something to our yard up here, I have been ordering a few each year. I am running out of places to put them unless I put in more flower beds, but they are just wonderful and these are the ones I have ordered this year. I am going to have to thin my beds out at the end of the growing season, they have gotten so thick. If you live close enough to come when we thin them in the fall, you are welcome to some.

This is a portion of the backyard that I have been working on for the last couple of days. It is all done now except for 2 hostas and 3 clematis vines I have ordered from Paradise Garden, sister company of Oakes Daylilies. We have a swale in the back yard that collects water when it rains and I decided the best way to "fix" it was to put rocks in it, make it look like a creek bed. Will show pictures soon. Looks great!!

Here is a picture of the colors I have picked out for the kitchen we are going to redo. I am so excited about this I can't keep from giggling. I have the cabinets ordered, they should be here in a month hopefully. The cabinet color is called muslin, lol, perfect for a quilter, huh. Quartz countertop and travertine tile backsplash with a touch of OU Sooner crimson, lol. It is a little darker than true OU color, but pretty close.

Ok, I think that catches me up. Aud and I are doing ok, we do manage to have a giggle now and then, like when we are standing at the kitchen sink at 10 at night before we go to bed and have our evening "cocktail" of

prune juice! :>) Life in old age is not for wimps, that's for sure.

Quilt Raffle

2010-03-28T13:33:00.009-05:00

Get all the details and purchase chances here:

The link will also be on the upper right side of my blog page. Feel free to add it to your blog or website. If you need help adding it please let me know.

My friends JudyL and Vicki Bellino, expert quilters, designers and kind, generous ladies, have each donated a quilt for a Cystic Fibrosis raffle this year. All proceeds will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which works to develop drugs and programs that improve the lives of those with cystic fibrosis, like my granddaughter Katy. Much research is being done to improve life expectancy for those who live with this disease, and great strides are being made every year.

Sincere thanks to Judy Laquidara for donating this quilt:

Sincere thanks to Vicki Bellino for donating this quilt:

Good luck to everyone! What a treat to own either one of these beautiful quilts!

You can read more about the quilts and see more pictures of them on the CF link.

Parritch and Bread

2010-03-04T17:44:00.000-06:00

I am slowly getting around to doing the bread and steel cut oatmeal thing that Miss JudyL has been tempting us with picture-wise. I must say, they are both terrific.

I tried crockpots for the steel cut oatmeal(aka parritch, according to Diana Gibaldon in her saga The Outlander)..didn't work for me. However, the rice cooker I have does. I can make it in 15 minutes....it is so, so good.) I have one from Wolfgang Puck and there is a recipe in the accompanying book for steel cut oatmeal that is sooooooo goood! It has a little bit of vanilla and some raisins in it....really, really good with butter and sugar and a little cream...Of course it isn't non-fattening, lol. This doesn't look real appetizing, but it is exactly enough for Aud and myself. I cut down the recipe.

As for the bread, well, look at this....

This is so good!!! And so easy, you need to try it.

Quilting Stuff

2010-03-04T17:05:00.000-06:00

Isn't this fabric cute? I am going to make a baby quilt out of it. If I can just get to it. I think in another 2 weeks I will be able to get back to doing some quilting. I have a couple of things I have to get done first.

One of the things that I "had to do" was try to bring some semblance of order to my quilting room. Not there yet, but working on it. This is a picture of the "4 inch squares" I have received over the last several years from Cotton Club. I receive their newsletter with these squares 10 times a year. They always have unusual fabrics and I buy all of my Fossil Fern from there. When you can't find a fabric you need for a project, you can always use a Fossil Fern. Don't know what I am going to do with them yet, but I will figure out something I imagine.

This is a picture of my batik stash. I have not decided what to do with it yet. I don't want to put it into containers because most of it is fat quarters or 1/3 yards. I guess I need to seperate it out into quilts, lol. Anyone want to volunteer to come help me tackle it? I just love them and have to keep eyes averted when I see them. I notice my favorite online shop is now carrying more batiks than ever. And they also have a quilt kit that I am totally in love with. Fabric just seems to be getting prettier every year.

Oklahoma Quilt Guild Meeting

2010-03-04T13:25:00.000-06:00

I took pictures of several quilts at our guild meeting. For some reason the majority of the pictures were taken behind the lectern and were not good so they didn't make this post. I love this quilt. It is made from oriental fabrics, but I want to make it from scraps I have of Moda collections. Must put on my list to do, lol.

All of the quilts shown were wonderful of course. The blue and yellow one was a custom quilt made and quilted by one of our local longarmers, Brenda Eslinger.

The red, black and white one is Yellow Brick Road I think.

This and That

2010-02-28T21:59:00.000-06:00

I had pictures for this post, but somewhere along the way I lost them when I "transferred" them to my computer, lol.

I finally got all of the paraphernalia together to make the Artisan Bread that JudyL has raved about for several months, and literally "threw" a batch of it together with success. I baked some yesterday which was the day I made it and it is wonderful! Thank you Judy for spurring me on on this one. If you have not tried to make this, it is great "peasant" bread and is even good with Jiffy peanut butter on it, lol. I made Jambalaya and it was really great with that.

I found everything I needed at Amazon for making the bread, even the container to store the dough in. I did take pictures of the process and the finished bread but they didn't make it here. Will try again on the next batch. It was great fun and very free and easy. If you are hesitating about trying this, don't, you will love the ease with which it is made and the fun of seeing it "do it's thing".

This is my first attempt at knitting. Not too shabby I guess, considering. I know now why I quit when I did though. It kills my wrists to do this, but I am going to keep on keeping on a little at a time and see what happens. There is a local knit store that offers free lessons if you buy the yarn there. I will go next Thursday and eventually get better.

Watched Canada beat the US at hockey...what a game....what a great game! I have enjoyed watching the Olympics this year, they seemed more free of controversy than usual, but I am glad they are over. Need to do other things.

Also working on cleaning up my sewing room now. I am horrified at how much fabric I am uncovering stuck in nooks and crannies....what I am really concerned about is knowing what pattern I had in mind when I bought some of it. One batch I had together complete with yardage and measurements has the crytic note "make the same as blue quilt" attached. Problem is I don't have a blue quilt, lol.

The picture in my header is one Aud took the second day out on our trip. Just loved the desolation of the abandoned house.

Bad Influences

2010-02-25T16:25:00.001-06:00

I have decided that JudyL is not a good influence on me. First she goes off of the wagon about buying fabric which gave me the ok to buy some fabric today while I was at my Guild Meeting, (more about that later).

Both of these are very injurious to my health. On the left is a ball of yarn that I am in the process of winding. I used to do a lot of knitting in a previous life....and I do remember that you really do need a winder to take away the tediousness of winding yarn, plus it is easy to get the %&**& stuff tied up in knots if you are not careful. On the right is a picture of a pair of gloves I want to knit and I really need a scarf and hat. On the left is the yarn I am rolling into a ball. It is really gorgeous and has purple in it of course.

I let another friend convince me to go to a knitting store with her a couple of days ago, and that was the second mistake I have made this week. I would never have gone to the knitting store if not for JudyL going on and on about how much fun knitting socks is. And since I have cleaned out a closet in my spare quilting room and have found some room it has to be filled up, and quickly. Therefore I will knit myself a scarf, and I must have several choices of yarn, right? No socks for me, that yarn is just too tiny. But scarves, for now, they sound wonderful.

Great. I could buy 4 scarves for what the yarn cost of course, but that is not what we knit for, right? Or quilt for, for that matter. I think it is so we can sit down and feel like we are being constructive.

But, I digress. I buy the yarn, buy the needles, a CD so I have a great big picture I can see so I can tell what I am doing, and come home with my purchase. Now I just need to find the time to teach myself.

I must admit about a month ago this same friend I am not naming convinced me to go to another yarn store here in town (there are only 3 and I now have visited 2 of them, lol, and haven't knitted anything yet) and I also bought enough yarn there and some needles to make a scarf. However, you have to go to their class that they are going to charge you for to learn how to use this expensive stuff you just bought. Well, that didn't sit real well with me and I have not been back. Then I decide to pick up a ball of yarn and another pair of needles (didn't like the bamboo ones from the fancy yarn store) from Hancock's so I can practice and not mess up the good stuff.

I am still digressing here. I tried knitting with the cheap stuff and couldn't keep the youtube pictures still long enough to follow them, so I put it away. Now of course I can't find it. No telling in what clean area I stuffed the sack with the pretty cheap yarn and needles that aren't blunted in. Okay, no problem, I will just use this new stuff that I bought (pictured above) and look at the CD on my computer which I can stop every few seconds easily enough and practice casting on. I also bought a book at the expensive store and have no idea where it is. It had some decent pictures...can I find it....nope.

Ooops! The yarn is in this long skein that is twisted and I seem to remember that it needs to be wound into a ball. Wow! I need a yarn winder! No problem, I have a couple of hours to kill before I go back for the night guild meeting. I have to go to both each month because I am the membership chairman. Thank goodness that will be over in another 3 months.

Have any of you priced a yarn winder lately? The manual one is in the 40 dollar range and the electric one is in the 90 dollar range! Holy Makerel and all the ships at sea!!! I think I will wind my yarn by hand for a while.

Just want to thank JudyL and my nameless friend for getting me into another craft, lol.

A Little Quilting Going On

2010-02-24T18:54:00.003-06:00

I put this on my design wall 2 months ago, intending to work on it and there it sits, so it is coming down. I am bored with it and it is going away to be worked on in the monthly meeting of the quilting group I belong to. Pattern is called Chocolate Dip from Charmed, I'm Sure by Lesley Chaisson.

Meanwhile, I have found another collection called Blush that I just adore and the perfect quilt pattern to make it out of. My friend decided to make hers out of Kaffe but she is not sure of her background yet. Both of them will be gorgeous I think.

Uh Oh!

2010-02-24T16:39:00.000-06:00

Aud fell asleep while she was drinking grape juice and playing scrabble on her computer. So now she have grapejuice all over the quilt that she uses in her chair. I couldn't get it out. I didn't even get upset, which even shocked both of us, lol. But it does worry me...how can you go to sleep and spill grape juice all over your computer and not wake up. I think it has to do with her heart, but she swears up and down the medicine she is taking for a bladder infections is the reason. And her computer is still working, lol.

We Just Had to Go.......

2010-02-22T21:39:00.005-06:00

I really don't know where to begin after such a long time away from blogging. My last post was right before Aud and I took our "journey" in September. We drove 5000 miles in 28 days and went from here to Seattle and back. Had a wonderful time, lots of fun and a few harrowing moments here and there. If Aud had not had a couple of health issues rear their heads, we might still be "on the road".

I took lots of pictures which I will not subject you to, ate lots of food that wasn't particularly good, and saw many wonderful places. I believe my favorite was the place where the picture that is my header at the moment was taken. It is looking at the Pacific Ocean and in that particular place all you could see was water and it looked it was just dropping off the edge of the world. So very beautiful.

My girls didn't even say we must be crazy to make this trip, but they did take bets as to whether we would make it all the way to Seattle. I didn't know about the bet until we got back though. As I told them when they informed me of the bet, you don't know me very well, do you.

The first night out Aud fell in the bathroom and I figured we wouldn't make it any further, but she insisted she was ok so on we went. Two days later she opened the car door wrong and the edge of the door dug a hole in her leg. Three weeks into our trip and 3 ER visits later we were told we probably needed to go home and have the leg checked. By then we were in Seattle. So, we loaded up the car and left. It was supposed to snow the day we left Seattle, but we didn't see snow until the following day as we were driving into Butte Montana. From Butte we made it home to OKC in three more days. Lots of stories in this one paragraph.

I am so glad we made the trip, and so is Aud, in spite of the health issues. I am sure a lot of you will think it was insane for a 70 year old and a 93 year old to do something like that, but we had a great adventure. We have lots of good memories associated with that period of time.

After we got home, I took Aud to see her doctor, got her on the proper antibiotic and it took 4 weeks more to get her leg healed up(October). Then I had to take her to therapy for a month (November) to get her arm repaired from her fall in the motel bathroom when we left on our trip. It was almost "frozen". December was just kind of a wash....cold weather....more cold weather....and so on.

January started out with yukky weather and both of us sick with allergies and just general "yuk". Sleeping until 2 and 3 in the afternoon and staying up all night because we couldn't sleep.

February has not been real good for Aud, she is having trouble breathing and is sleeping more and more. I decided I was depressed, told my doctor I was going to quit taking the anti-depressant I had been on...and I did it gradually.....because I was having constant headaches. Well, I am off of them completely, will never take them again, my headaches are gone, I can cry at the drop of a hat about nothing, tear your arm off if you look at me wrong sometimes, and am getting up around 8 am and going to bed between 10 and 12. Life is good! Now, if I can just get my arthritis meds on track so I don't hurt so much maybe I can start doing some quilting again!

So, that covers the last 6 months of my life....will try to post more often. I hope to have some pictures soon of quilting projects.

OK, I am Back

2010-02-22T20:53:00.008-06:00

I have procrastinated as long as I can, but my dear friend, JudyL, has shamed me into owning up to the person she is referencing as "her" in her post called "Another Finish - Almost", lol.

I don't have all of the particulars for this year's Cystic Fibrosis Drive as of yet, and since my daughter usually provides me with the links etc. to the current fund raising effort for CF, I will have to build a fire under her to get the current info ASAP.

The latest picture of my CF grandchild....isn't she beautiful? She will be 7 in May.

This is the fourth year we have been able to "raffle" a quilt as a fund raiser. Tickets will cost $5.00 for two and will be available online paid directly to the CF Foundation. I don't remember the particulars right now, as my memory is even worse than last year at this time, lol, but it works very well. There will also be a way to buy tickets via mail.

Thank you Judy for building a fire under me, lol. I promise I will do a great binding job! lol

A Little Quilting Going On

2009-09-20T21:50:00.005-05:00

Judy has this insane thing she does every week about posting what is on your design wall. It really isn't insane, it is an incentive, lol, but for me it seems insane when I try to meet her expectations. I swear that woman has more energy than all of her egg laying chickens put together, lol.

Any way this is the project I am currently working on for my Wednesday sewin. Don't remember the name of the pattern right now, but the fabrics are batiks and I am enlarging it from a 40 x 40 inch quilt to an 80 by 80. Maybe that is why I think it is insane, lol. I love the colors in these batiks.

I have also finished my Figgy Pudding I was working on so diligently. It is off to the quilter's and I hope to get it next month so I can get it bound and on my bed for the holidays. Of course I have enlarged the pattern and it now covers my bed. I just grin everytime I look at this picture. I really love the fabric.

And that is all I have to show for now. I am working quite a bit on my embrodiery but it goes so slowly I don't have enough of it done on the second section to show yet.

Hope all of you are doing well!

The Story Behind the Picture

2009-09-19T21:10:00.018-05:00

Miss Sharon has posted this picture of Aud and I so I thought I would give you the story behind the picture.

Aud before pink

After pink

See the pink Ugg boots?

See the purple Ugg boots?

It's called if you have pink uggs you must have pink hair, lol.

I Think I Must be Taking a Break

2009-09-19T18:39:00.002-05:00

I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted anything. Have been busy with not sure what but I will be posted again soon I think. Seem to be taking a break.

Hope all is well with everyone.!

A Little Quilting Going On

2009-07-26T23:02:00.010-05:00

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

2009-07-26T22:46:00.005-05:00

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?

2009-07-26T22:37:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-08T21:54:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-08T20:28:00.010-05:00

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

2009-07-03T01:53:00.003-05:00

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!!!

A Little Quilting Going On

2009-06-29T23:06:00.010-05:00

I really don't feel like I have accomplished much in the way of quilting in the last two months. It really has been hectic but I have gotten some new things started. Don't even ask about the ones in the works, lol.

Figgy Pudding....I could not pass this collection up. Ordered it from Fat Quarter Shop about 2 weeks ago and I am trying to get it done and to the quilter's as quickly as possible. I want it ready for my bed come December 1. I just adore this line, and the pattern. You can download the pattern from Moda, or, if this doesn't appeal to you, Kimberly also has a kit from this frabic.

These are the large blocks for Figgy Pudding. I am enlarging it, of course. I seem to do that a lot.

My design wall. The quilt on the left is from the pattern Diamond in the Rough. I am putting borders on it and then it will be finished. The wild one on the right is a quilt I am doing with Kaffe Fassett fabric. I belong to a monthly club at Quiltworks that makes quilts from Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I am caught up through month 4 on this. I just love it!

This is a quilt I am doing in batiks. I fell in love with these and am working on the pattern pictured. Of course I am making it larger also. I go to a sew-in every Wenesday at Quiltworks and this is the quilt I am currently working on there. I try to get something prepared each week so I can concentrate on sewing. Of course there is a lot of chatter theress and all of the women that come are really terrific quilters. Makes one want to excel, that's for sure.

Thanks to those of you who have stopped by to see me. I have missed you. Nancy in MI, please send me your email address. I have misplaced it.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Just a Tad of Ice Cream

2009-06-28T21:01:00.002-05:00

We just went out to get some milk from Braum's. And look what we ended up with. The signs for this looked so good, and I haven't had a banana split in forever. I ate about 1/3 of mine and Aud about 1/4 of hers. So now we have revisited our youth, or tried to, and they just don't make banana splits like they used to.

"Don't Close the Door"

2009-06-27T10:41:00.003-05:00

This is a Door Harp that I painted back in period of my life that I was doing Toile Painting. It hangs on my bedroom door and has been there ever since we moved in this house. When it is moved it makes a very soft tinkling sound.

Last night Miss Aud is standing in front of this and talking to me, don't even remember what about. She turns to leave and starts to close the door.

"Don't Close the Door"

Ok, what is that noise I hear. Is your phone ringing? Is that an alarm. Miss Aud is looking around and up and down and I am grinning from ear to ear.

I don't hear anything

Yes you do

No, must be your imagination, and I am grinning like a cat.

Perry, I know you know what it is

No

She starts out the door

Mom, it is the door

Ok......

I don't think she realizes yet what was causing the sound.

I Really Will Post Soon

2009-06-23T00:00:00.003-05:00

Hi, all, I promise I really will post something soon. It has been a very busy and unorderly last couple of months and I am just treading water at the moment.

Aud and I are basically doing ok and I appreciate everyone that has emailed me asking if we are ok. Thank you so much for caring. And Aud says to tell everyone thank you also.

I hope to have the time to take some pictures etc after this week is over and I will try to get some of them posted.

I have been reading people's blogs, so I am trying to keep up with you'll. Hope this week is going well for you, and, yes, my hair still has purple in it, lol.

Rain and Shine!

2009-05-12T08:41:00.004-05:00

The Oklahoma City Great Strides walk was this past Saturday, and boy did it rain! There were three rain bursts that came through over the course of the morning and drenched anyone that didn't have an umbrella or rain slicker. But that did not dampen our spirits and everyone had a great time. There were about 700 people there, and 60 of them were our friends and family members that came out in support of Katy! All of the kids absolutely loved splashing through the puddles and I'll bet their shoes are still wet. :)

Here is Katy with her Hero of Hope award. I know this is a crazily cropped picture but, Katy is draping her arms around her school friends that came to support her, and I didn't get permission to post their pics on the web. Suffice it to say she is so so happy here and surrounded by love!

We were at the Myriad Gardens, which houses a lovely conservatory located downtown. Our event took place on the grounds, where there are hills, trees, and a lake. It is a two-level venue, with an upper plaza and then down the stairs a stage over the water. Our team was stationed on the plaza. We had secured a sponsor for refreshments - two cotton candy machines and a popcorn machine. Cystic fibrosis families and their supporters are absolutely worn out from the day-to-day grind of the disease and the fundraising efforts leading up to Great Strides, so it was fabulous to be able to offer these refreshments for free. Thank you Doyle Chiropractic Clinic in Yukon, Oklahoma!

Of course its not enough to pick up the machines from the party place, drive them to the event, and set them up. Somebody(ies) have to operate them! That is where our amazing family came in to play! If you have never run a cotton candy machine, you should put it on your list of things to do. Once might be enough. Imagine standing over a 3-foot wide metal bowl, in the middle of which is a spinning head spitting out pink and blue threads of sugar. Throw in a little Oklahoma breeze. Now try to catch ALL the sugar threads on a tiny white cone. My sister and sister-in-law were completely covered with cotton candy from head to toe.

But they ran those machines for 3 hours straight and handed out hundreds of bags of cotton candy. Meanwhile, my brothers-in-law and another SIL ran the popcorn machine. They were total pros. They made over 36 batches of popcorn, and I'm telling you it was the best ever! Thanks to my many nieces and nephews as well for all of their hard work, and the newly-adopted member of our family, Desiree!

The OKC Thunder, our pro basketball team, lent us their mascot Rumble and two beautiful cheerleaders to hand out the Hero of Hope awards. These awards are given to those at the walk who have CF, and anyone walking in honor or in memory of someone with CF. There is a quick video here - http://www.nba.com/thunder/video/2009/05/11/cystic_fibrosis_090509.thunder/index.html

At one point you see the back of a girl's head with pigtails - that's our Katy receiving her award. My husband keeps watching this over and over - those cheerleaders sure are cuties!

I can't say thank you enough to everyone who read our CF blog post here, watched Katy's video, and/or purchased quilt chances. Our fundraising results were down this year, and we understand that; these are tough times. But even just taking the time to know about CF is enough. As a CF parent, raising awareness is part of my job so thank you for your attention and kindness.

And I'll wrap this up by thanking Judy again for the beautiful quilt, congratulating Vicky for winning, and assuring you that Peri will be back with all things quilty very soon!

Dana, mom to Katy and daughter of the lovely Peri. :)

And the winner is!

2009-05-07T16:36:00.001-05:00

Drawing held via Random.org

Step 6: Drawing Completed
The winner of your drawing is...
Ticket 199 - V*

Congratulations on the drawing! It was completed on 7 May 2009 at 21:33:49 UTC. The winner was drawn from a list of 338 entrants using true randomness, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs.

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful support!

Katy's Hope III Quilt Raffle

2009-04-05T22:58:00.009-05:00

A Huge Thank You to JudyL for donating a quilt for Katy's Hope III Quilt raffle! Judy designed, pieced, and machine quilted this beautiful contemporary quilt, and some lucky person will be the winner.

This year the Katy’s Hope Quilt raffle will be completely virtual! (In prior years, ‘real’ raffle tickets were completed for each purchase and a physical drawing was held.) This year’s raffle ticket numbers will be assigned beginning with ticket number 1, and the winning number will be generated using a random number generator. The screen shot of the winning number will be posted here on the drawing date of Thursday, May 7th, at 4 p.m. Central Time.

Tickets can be purchased three ways:
Visit Okperi’s Great Strides page to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Great Strides Campaign for 2009 www.cff.org/great_strides/okperi

If you want to purchase tickets by PayPal send to dldale@aol.com

If you see Perry or Dana out and about, you can purchase tickets from them in person

Tickets are two for $5. All proceeds will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Please leave an e-mail address so that you can receive confirmation of your ticket numbers and for notification if you win!

This link explains why we support the work of the CFF:
2009 - Support the CFF Quilt Raffle The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation funds the science that develops effective and efficient treatments to control the symptoms of CF. We even dare to hope for a cure. Thank you for your support, and Good Luck!

Any questions at all should be directed to katysvoyagers@sbcglobal.net.

Please feel free to place a link to this information on your blog. We need all of the exposure we can get.

UPDATE:

Henrietta of Red Ink Diary has graciously agreed to donate additional money for everyone who takes a chance on the quilt raffle if you put the words "Henrietta Sent Me" in the comments section of the CF page. Read this post, it says it all. Thank you so much Henrietta!!

Star BOM # 13

2009-03-29T23:00:00.002-05:00

Quilty Things

2009-03-29T21:13:00.019-05:00

There is no hope for me. The only way I keep from buying quilting related items is to not go in a quilt store and not look at the online newsletters. I just don't seem to have any willpower.

Quiltworks had a weeklong sale on their reproduction fabrics and I just couldn't pass these up. Neutrals are always good and I love the floral.

I don't think I ever showed this. It is a neat table topper I think. It comes from Pieced Tree Patterns . They have some really good small patterns with good instructions.

I finally went to the Central Oklahoma Quilt Guild this month. This was one of the quilts shown. I like the border...it does remind me of the Diamond in the Rough I am doing. Not sure it is the same pattern, but pretty close.

This is a gorgeous quilt. Not a good picture, but you can see it in person at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this fall. It has been accepted for show.

This beauty came from Thimble Creek. It is made with Fig Tree's Patisserie and I haven't seen this kit anywhere else. Really pretty.

If you like blended quilts, and I really do, the place online to find them in kit form is Piece Keepers. The owner's name is Susan Branch and she only vendors at quit shows, and occasionally come to the OKC guild meeting with her merchandise. This is some of the fabric I picked up from her at the guild meeting. First time she has been there in a couple of years. I just love the large roses piece. It looks like tapestry and I seem to be into that at the moment. Also the other pieces are from Quilt Gate. They feel like lawn.

Susan puts together kits from the "In The Beginning" blended quilt books and I just couldn't resist buying this one. It called my name.

Look at this border fabric. It is yummy.

And last, but not least, this wool table topper from Bird Brain Designs. I will get this done eventually I think. It is so cute.

I Promised Pictures

2009-03-29T20:42:00.021-05:00

I promised pictures so here they are.

We had some jewelry appraised and this was the table that the appraiser used for such things. See all of those "things"? They are diamonds....lol....small, insignifcant diamonds. Not worth anything supposedly, but used in "pave" and fillers for rings, etc. He told us he had to change out the carpet every 4 or 5 years because it got so full of them. Isn't that wild?

Aud studying the paperwork etc on the new car.

Our salesman, aka Coach. He was so nice and so patient with us, and we had a good time. Finally the sales manager came over to join us because we were laughing so much.

And here is our new car. It is a Toyota Venza, and I just love it! Drives like a dream, has a wonderful stereo in it and bluetooth, keyless entry, etc. Such a fun car!

This was taken at the hospital while we were waiting for our car. This little boy in the corner looks just like I felt at the time. Really "p******d" at the world.

Taken on March 28 when it had finished snowing. My poor azaleas. Today however they appear to be ok.

Iphone...the only thing pleasant that came out of the "changing my telephone" experience. It is such fun and I have downloaded some apps so I can play Tetris, do Yoga, build bridges, etc. I also downloaded 2 dictionaries, a thesaurus, and some books from my Kindle because I can read them on this phone. Love it, love it, love it!!

New drinks that don't have a lot of calories, taste good, and don't appear to be full of sugar. Come in lots of flavors.

Coconut cupcakes. The recipe was on here and it is wonderful. Aud and I almost fought over them. Thank you Kim for posting this recipe.

Aud's new haircut. Doesn't she look younger?

Joe B is Still Hanging Around

2009-03-23T20:39:00.004-05:00

Joe B is still hanging around this month. Since no one else wanted to entertain him, he decided to stay here.

Since the first of March I have had continuous problems with my computer and AT&T. Unreal. If you heard screaming about the 15th of this month, it was me yelling at the Tech Department of AT&T. Talk about a horrible customer service experience and a worse technical help experience. I still get mad when I think about it. My internet has been intermittent....that should read practically non-exsistence....

I did get an IPhone through AT&T for my mobile phone. It is so much fun and I am using it for everything. I can even download books from my Kindle to read on it. I had my land line disconnected and only have the IPhone to worry with. I am not getting all the gimme calls and surveys now, YEA!!!

Then we decided to buy a car, which was interesting. We ended up buying a Toyota Venza and it has been so much fun to drive. I need to take a picture of it to share, but it is dirty now and needs to be washed, lol.

Then my doctor informed me I needed to get some weight off and eat better so I have joined the Silver Sneakers at Pacers, which is attached to one of the hospitals here. For all of you senior citizens who have AARP Supplemental Insurance this should be a service offered to you through AARP at no cost. It is a great program.

I was screened and all of my vitals recorded plus the sterling numbers of strength I am capable of, not! Programs were suggested and I will try to go at least 3 times a week.

So far I have tried several things and today I tried Pilates. I have hamstrings that have been sleeping for 15 years! They are screaming!! I don't think I have used some of these muscles in forever!

I am feeling much better and have started back to sewing on Wednesdays at a local quilt store. Maybe I will finally get some sewing done. I have some pictures to share, but that is going to have to wait a day or two.

Aud is doing ok, but her blood pressure is 20 points higher than usual, so we are going to have to really watch her diet. She had a doctor's appointment today and he is not happy about it. Tomorrow a dietician is going to come see her and put her on a strict diet. Not looking forward to that for sure. I think she is concerned, but hopefully we will get her back on task. She is still on coumidin and that is going well. He did increase her diuretics. She is in good spirits.

Aud had her hair cut and I took a picture. I swear she looks younger with it cut, lol.

JudyL has kindly donated a quilt to be raffled off for Cystic Fibrosis this year. I am waiting on my daughter to give me all of the details for those of you interested in buying tickets. It is a gorgeous quilt and a worthy cause. More on that as soon as possible I hope.

I think that catches me up. Thanks for all of the messages. It is wonderful to have blogger friends who keep up with you and encourage you to do things. I will try to get back on this week with quilty pictures.

Anybody Seen my Lost Brain Matter?

2009-03-01T22:58:00.010-06:00

I am not sure where our spring went, but it has been cold here this week. Of course, not as cold as other places, and next week I will be gripping because it is supposed to get to 80 degrees.

Aud is doing OK I guess. She just seems to be struggling to get better and it worries me some. She doesn't feel like getting out, and I haven't gotten out much either.

Katy's "bone" problems have been weighing pretty heavy on my mind; I think it has finally bought home the reality that so far there is no cure for Cystic Fibrosis and that is a very sobering thought.

On a lighter note, my ex daughter-in-law and husband are expecting a daughter early in July so I need to get something pink sewn up for this child. I hope they call her Emily rather than Zoe; a good old fashioned American name would be wonderful I think. Please don't post that this thinking is un-American, lol, because I really don't care. I just want this child to have a nice peaceful sounding name I can relate to.

On to other things. I did get a little quilting done. When I picked up my BOM for the Posies quilt (haven't started it yet) I could not get past this pattern at Oklahoma Quiltworks. I just love it. So, it came home with me along with the Perle Cotton. Not a real good picture but you will get the idea from the closeups below.

The next 3 photos are of the area across the top of the quilt. I have prepared the fabric and am ready to go on it. Of course, as usual, I don't always have all of my brain together so there is a funny story to go along with this.

I was talking to one of my friends there about this pattern and she has made the one previous to this that was a winter scene with black and brown flying geese. She was telling me that rather than hand stitch a backing down she ironed wonder under on her fabric.

Ok, I can do that. I prepped this much of the fabric the other night and ironed on the wonder under, and I am thinking, hmmm, have to take the paper off. So I take the paper off, and, I am thinking to myself, this is sticky. I cut the pieces of fabric, get out my light box, lay the pattern on it and start tracing it all off. The whole time I am doing this I am really concerned about sewing on this sticky stuff.

Are you laughing yet? About the time I get through drawing the pattern on, it dawns on me....idiot, you have to iron the muslin on the back side of the wonder under....lol....ooops! That's your laugh for today!

I have been doing the button hole stitchwork on my Gatsy quilt. All 88 squares (I think...somewhere in that vicinity anyway). This takes a long time and is boring!!!!! I want to get this stitching finished up so I can get it put together and to the quilter. It has been a whole year since I have finished a quilt and I want a new quilt for my bed!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

It's Bernina Time!

2009-02-23T23:56:00.003-06:00

I finally came to my senses and quit fooling around with other sewing machines and bought another Bernina!

JudyL had a discussion on her blog last week about sewing machines, and which one she liked to sew on, etc. Well, I have been thinking about that and have come to the conclusion that I was making better looking quilts with less trouble and all of my seams matched when I was sewing with a Bernina.

I had an Bernina 830 for years and when I started quilting I traded it in ( I know, don't fuss at me, lol) for a 150 Quilter's Edition. Never did like that one. For some reason it was never comfortable for me but I did sew some pretty quilts on it. I sold it last summer because it was just too heavy and I had sewed through my finger with it one day..scared the you know what out of me...and never was able to feel totally at ease with it after that. Besides, did I really need it with the Janome and the Pfaff I had, why no, of course not, lol.

Then I sold the Janome Gold that I had to a friend of mine for her daughter to use to learn to quilt on. I wasn't using it, seemed like the thing to do at the time, lol. Two weeks later I started going out to sew once a week and realized I had goofed.

I had heard so much about how great the Pfaff was with the IDF foot, so I bought a 2046 (I think that is the number) of those several years ago, it gave me a lot of trouble, and I finally traded it back to the store and got a 2056 when the came out. It sewed pretty well for maybe 3 months and ever since then I have had so many problems with it. I have had it looked at, etc, and finally, a lady told me what was probably wrong with it but I would have to take it to Enid to have it fixed. That is a lot of trouble. Plus, I don't think the quality is there.

I bought a Babylock Quilter Pro (only does straight stitching) to do machine quilting with 3 years ago. So far I have sewn on it twice and both times had problems with the tension. I don't have patience for stuff like that. One of these days when I make something small and have to quilt it, I will figure it out maybe. IF I can remember what I figure out...that is always a problem.

I bought a Janome Diamond (I think that is the name of it) last year, it is the small machine and just perfect for classes and a joy to sew on. You can't hurt it, BUT, I can't get a scant quarter inch and as a result have to rip a lot.

If I want to do a blanket stitch, that is a nightmare on either one of them. So I finally set down and thought about this problem and decided to bite the bullet and go back to what I know sews well and sews like I like.

I did not buy an expensive Bernina....I told the lady I wanted a good quarter inch, a good blanket stitch and a satin stitch I could make wider or more narrow as I stitched, and that is exactly what I got. Even with my eyes bothering me, my stitches are straighter and my seams are scant quarters, and even the blanket stitch looks good. I am a happy camper! And to top it all off, it is pretty lite as far as weight is concerned, so I can lug it around.

I still have my little Janome for a backup and the Pfaff for whatever. I never thought the day would come that I would own 4 sewing machines, but that isn't many from what I can tell for someone that quilts, lol. I do not intend to buy another one anytime soon. I just want to be able to sew a block without having to take out the stitching all the time.

I am as happy as a pig in sunshine, lol.......and just about as fat!

She Did It Again!

2009-02-23T19:41:00.003-06:00

My poor grandaughter! Katy, the youngest grandchild has cystic fibrosis. One of the problems that these children can have is "brittle bones". Normally this is a condition that they have sometime in their lives, but not at 5 years old, which is how old Katy is.

Well, her mother just called me from the hospital. She has broken her left forearm in two places! They had to sedate her but have it set and this time did not have to put a pin in. For those who are new to my blog, this is the third time she has broken her arm in approximately 1 year. The other two times were on her upper arms and I believe she has a pin in both of them.

In case you are wondering, she broke the first one while she was playing with the neighbor children and a bee was buzzing around and she fell off of a picnic table. The next one happened when one of the neighbor girls and she were printing off something on the printer and she was standing up in an office chair and jumped out...oops!! This afternoon she was sliding down a slide at school with a friend and fell off I guess. Dana didn't give me all the details.

As I told Dana, Katy doesn't seem to have be afraid of anything. We are all ready to wrap her in bubble wrap or sedate her until she is 18, lol.

I know Dana and Mark (her parents) are in a state of shock....I am for sure. Tests were scheduled tomorrow for some other CF problems she is having. Those have been cancelled for now but I am sure the problem with the brittle bones will be one of the ones that get addressed fast. Hopefully there will be something that will help this condition.

The past two years during the fund raisers that happen in May and June for CF I have had a quilt available for chances. Two years ago I made one and last year Cindy made one. Dana and I had talked a couple of weeks ago and decided not to do it this year. Her job is just too busy right now and I don't have a quilt made for it. Anyway, what I am getting at is remember CF when you want to donate to a charity. These kids really need all of the help they can get. There is no cure for CF as of yet.

On a better note, Aud went for doctor's followup and she is doing much better. He is well pleased with her progress.

Star BOM

2009-02-22T23:42:00.004-06:00

I am so excited! I am finally caught up with JudyL and the Star BOM she has been hosting for the last several months. I am very pleased with the way my blocks have turned out. Only one more block to go, and then we get to put it all together.

This is block 4; I was not happy with the first one I did, so I remade it this week and it goes much better with the other ones.

Update on Aud

2009-02-22T13:47:00.002-06:00

Thanks so much for all the good wishes and helpful comments about my mother, (I call her Aud). We have managed to get through a few days of this and seem to be getting in a groove of sorts.

Aud is feeling much better, even though all of her bruises are itching and they are driving her batty, lol. I told her she didn't have far to go.

I know she is feeling better because she got on to me about throwing something in the recycle bin that shouldn't be in there, lol. Oh well, that means things are getting back to normal.

I am looking forward to a little quiet time today I hope. I have my blocks caught up for the Star BOM I am doing with JudyL so I get to work on something else for a change.

Here's hoping we all have a great week ahead of us!

Star Block 12

2009-02-22T13:39:00.002-06:00

This is Star Block 12 I am doing with JudyL.

Another Lost Week or More

2009-02-18T23:48:00.002-06:00

Well, I could not tell any of you what has happened to this month so far. It is almost over and I have nothing to show for it except some BOMS I am trying to catch up on. They are in individual posts below this one.

I had to put Audrey in the hospital last Thursday and everything has been a blur since. She had a blood clot in her groin and they finally let her come home yesterday. They also put her on cumiden which distresses me. That stuff is really bad. It thins your blood and you have to be very careful what you do and what you eat. The blood clot will hopefully dissolve soon.

She has some hideous bruises on her stomach and her arm where some idiot lab technician that didn't know what they were doing tried to give her a shot and tried to draw blood. I have filed a complaint about them, which I am sure will do no good. However, hopefully somewhere down the line it will show up in her records and they will be more careful.

She is on a low sodium and restrictive potassium diet which is rather stringent. We have decided the best thing to do is buy her some TV dinners that meet those requirements because she is eating like a bird, and doesn't really eat enough to make it worthwhile cooking for. Both of us eat cereal for breakfast and peanut butter and crackers for lunch, so that is only one meal, which won't be too bad.

I am still having trouble with bronchitis which doesn't help the situation either, lol.

So, here we are, puttering around the house, and trying to come to terms with the new diet and restrictions placed upon her. She is ticked off to say the least, her words are......this is not my body! It doesn't act this way!!

I think she will be fine, she just has some adjusting to do, as do I. Hope all is good in your world, and your week is going well.

Catching up with BOMS

2009-02-18T23:29:00.004-06:00

This is Block 5 of the Simply Sophisticated BOM. I have to keep these caught up because Vicky and Fat Quarter Shop have this thing going where you can win a $25.oo Gift Certificate every month. That is a good incentive I think, lol. Thank you Vicky for hosting this, and thank you Kimberly for providing the gift certificate.

This is Block nine of the Designer BOM I have been doing.

Star BOM Block 11

2009-02-18T23:08:00.002-06:00

This is Star block #11 I am doing with JudyL

Star BOM Block 10

2009-02-18T23:07:00.002-06:00

This is block 10 of the BOM I am doing with JudyL

Star BOM Block 9

2009-02-18T23:03:00.003-06:00

Month 9 of the BOM I am doing with JudyL

Star BOM Block 8

2009-02-01T22:44:00.004-06:00

This is Block 8 of the Star BOM I am doing with JudyL.

Star BOM Block 7

2009-02-01T22:22:00.003-06:00

This is Block 7 of the Star BOM I am doing with JudyL. I am behind as usual, lol

Anybody Want a Visitor?

2009-01-30T21:26:00.004-06:00

Remember Joe Bfstplk from Little Abner? Well he has been staying here for the last 2 weeks and I am ready for him to go somewhere else. If you want some company let me know and I will send him your way.

I took Aud to the doctor last week for her 3 month visit and the waiting room was full of people coughing etc, and sure enough, I came down with bronchitis last Thursday evening. Aud is fine...she always is when we go to the doctor....and she won't let me go in with her so I can't tell the doctor what is really wrong with her.

Anyway, Wednesday we decided we needed to buy a new car....not my idea....but, that was besides the point. Aud spent the evening reading the newspapers and looking up cars online etc.

Thursday I went to the Dermatologist for the year's checkup for the place she removed on my cheek. This wonderful dermatogist is a young absolutely gorgeous tall lanky blonde. She walks in....how's your face...oh it looks terrific, I can't even see you...gee.... your skin is just beautiful....hmmm, I see a little place in your eyebrow, we need to take that off...oh, there's an age spot beside it...want me to remove that also?.....

The whole time she is doing this she has touched my hands and face and arms, etc.......and apologizes for touching me everywhere....I am always looking for places that shouldn't be there...how about that place on your chest, is it bothering you? ....yes, a little.....ok.....wait right here...and off she goes.

A couple of minutes later she is back with the "magic can", and proceeds to freeze the two places on my face and the one on my chest.

I have my kindle with me and we talk about them for a little bit and I am sure she is going to by her mother and mil one. Then it's .....ok, see you in a year unless you have problems and if you do, call me.

I make my appt for next year, make Aud one for the first week in February, because she has some spots she wants the doc to look at, and I am out of there.

I go home and get Aud and take her to have her hair done. Then we go look at cars at a couple of places and decide we want either a Chevy Impala or a Buick Lucerne. It is dark by now and I am feeling crappy from the bronchitis which is rearing it's ugly head, so we go home and figure we will go look on Friday.

Friday comes along and I am really sick and the weather is getting crummy, so we don't go anywhere. Spent Saturday in bed. Sunday I get a few things from the grocery store because we are due some ice on Monday.

By Tuesday we have decided not to buy a car, just don't want to fool with looking for one and the two old cars will last a while longer. Besides that, if I back one of the cars out of the driveway I won't be able to get it back in because it faces north and is in the shade, and on an incline and I can't get up the incline unless I take a flying leap at it from the driveway across the street from us...lol...and the way my luck is running right now, I figured if I did that I would not be able to stop in time to keep from running into the house. Still feeling awful anyway. Can't get to the doc with the roads like they are.

We still have ice in our driveway....even though it was 60 today, and I am still sick and feel like you know what. I finally called my daughter yesterday and got her to pick up a prescription and some milk and bread.

Today is Friday, I couldn't sleep last night so I read until 7 this morning, and didn't get up until 4 this afternoon. The minute my feet hit the floor Aud informs me she has fallen in the kitchen against the counter top and hurt her ribs.

Why didn't you wake me up? Well, I know you aren't feeling good either....
Are they broken??...no, I can take a deep breath...do we need to go to the ER and let them check them?...no, I will be fine but I am sure I will be black and blue tomorrow. She has basically stayed on a hotpad since it happened .

I have dreaded something like this happening, and it finally has. Hopefully she will be a little more careful and walk with her cane all of the time. The doc has told her to do that.

I have done nothing, nada, zilch, the past 2 weeks.....so I have nothing else to say other than please invite Joe to your house, lol