MERRY CHRISTMAS

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE
CHRISTMAS ........

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Beach Dreams

My callused feet are just itching to walk this beach.

"green bags"

I know that you can buy green bags for nothing, so why am I making them? Gifts, of course! Like the $10 family gift exchange , shhh dont tell anyone. And they get two matching ones.
Trial and Error, I have perfected just the right design. Joann fabrics had all of their outdoor heavy printed fabric on sale.
Save the earth, remember to bring your bags into the store, but guard them, they are very pretty.

burried

18" in Minneapolis with 3' drifts - guess we won't be grilling anytime soon.

Quilt project catch up

Catching up on quilt blogging.


The baby quilt was for a friends grand daughter.
It was a fun project with extra embellishing done on a road trip.










The top table runner is mine. It was started as a donation to a silent auction but I had to keep it. So I had to quickly make the one on the left for Empty Bowls.

What, nobody ever posts to this blog!

Ok I've had computer issues for three weeks now - that's a good excuse.

JP

I'm waiting for the snow!!! My new favorite website - if the sow won't come, I'll just make flakes!

Happy Halloween

It's still their favorite holiday!

Lake Superior Storm Grand Marais Lighthouse Grand Marais Minnesota

Go Scarlett!

........"and here comes Scarlett........looks the icebox is heating up"

That was the announcer at the bout. I was the jammer in 3 jams and scored all the points in each one. I wasnt even scared! Our team won.

That was the B match , I didnt get to play with the big girls. Every time I was to go in, we had a player in the penalty box, so they put in the beef, not the bones, to hold the line.

Bill can find 'road' construction everywhere when traveling in the summer!

The Aspen turned to a brilliant yellow while we were in Colorado last week, it was a great trip to the mountains

Activity included a bike ride from Vail Pass to Frisco - all downhill! Seemed a bit scary but wasn't too bad and a fun way to celebrate my birthday.

Also did a horseback ride - yes it's somewhat like riding a bike that it comes back to you even after many years of not riding, however, galloping does hurt the body more now.

Colorado here we come! I'm ready for the road trip with quilting, embroidery, knitting and sudoku.

With a full set of the State quarters my goal is to spend each in it's appropriate State.

Playing Tourist

With friends here for a visit and the most wonderful weather we played tourist all weekend.

Golf, campfires, Honeymoon Bluff, picnic at the end of the Gunflint Trail, Chic Wac museum, Artist Point, the lighthouse and Temperance State Park filled the weekend.

tour

I got the best tour of Target Field today - aka home of the Twins! We saw locker rooms and dugouts and sat in the fancy seats to watch this guy. They do this every day. And mow the grass. For three hours. I bet I know a few people who would take his job.

Vacation Photos

The first part of my vacation was a class reunion and visit to Bemidji - then some time at a great vacation destination - but we need to do chores.


Mom's flower bed - Northview Manor edition
She has created a beautiful garden in just two years - the fence that Harold and family built is such a great edition









Painting the back of the garage is a challenge, the scaffoding is sitting amongst rocks and flowers. It will be a challenge to make the next move. Good that the flowers were early this year and most are done - we have only beat up a few.


The weather was almost like September today.

Willie

Let's go jump in a lake!

my new favorite

I have to plant more of these lilies that stay open for days.

The Big Fish

Fishing trip to Lake Michigan

Lot's of fish and this one will be hanging on our wall.

Double Cute

Baby quilts for Twins!!

The quilts are really cute but the twins are adorable.

my fair winning lily

Guess this is the season to post favorite day lilies. Some of my lilies have so many blossoms on them that the stem cant hold it up, and no one is there to pick the old ones off. Maybe we could teach the mice to do that job, but Ron has trapped 190 on the island this summer, there arent even 3 blind ones left.

July

Happy Birthday Kelly

Happy Birthday, Kelly. You were just 6 days old in this picture!

Thanks for bringing so much joy to our lives, miss you on your Birthday.

Gaea returns home

This statue is one of 12 beavers that were painted by local artists and displayed downtown. It has made front page news for a week, as the city council removed it after a complaint that it was "not appropriate". A huge protest was held at last night's meeting and the statue was then put back in place.
So today, I biked through town just to get an upclose look at all of the artwork. There are some very impressive and fun pieces! (Bemidji is not such a "hick" town)

Happy 4th of July

Hope you had a great 4th of July

Ours was a day to relax

Celebrate Kelly's birthday early

and fireworks

The cool-aide pitcher and laundry basket from days gone by are my favorites for flowers.

Easter Table Runner

This project was made for my quilt groups "challenge" for this year. Each year a different theme is chosen - this years was "seasons". It's a secret what each member has made until the "unveiling" and then we test our guessing skills as to who made each lovely quilted item. I got 5 of 16 correct - it's a difficult test.

The center flowers are hand quilted. After I started that part of finishing I was quite sure that it might get finished while sitting in the driveway of the home we had our potluck. Flashbacks of 4-H days when most years my clothing project was finished in the car at the fair grounds. We had to get there on entry day before they started charging admission.

I'm ready for the runway

I made a skirt!

Inspiration

Ever wonder why you saved those seashells, and keep moving them around from drawer to drawer? This is my creation that reminds me of walking the beach in Sebastian. Now I can go to that place everytime I walk into my bathroom.

Memorial Weekend

What a wonderful weekend, a great time with Kelly, Marie & Brandon!

The weather mostly cooperated -

A fun packed weekend with golf, food, beverage, flowers, biking, lawn

darts,smore's at the bon-fire, in house product consultant for kitchen

and just a little rain - these golfers are socking wet

Such Fun!

Book Review

Even though I grew up in the 60's when the novel that I just read takes place, I can't quite relate to the characters. Perhaps because they are black maids and genteel southern women. The book is called, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. It is the stories of domestic help and the families that they worked for in a time when blacks had their own grocery stores, their own schools, beauty shops, black public restrooms, so white people would not catch their germs.
Where was I? I can't even imagine what the south was like. Laws have changed this racial imbalance, but have attitudes changed with the times? Easy to sit back and say that was a southern problem, but, I know people in Bemidji that feel the same way about our American Indians.
Read the book!

Measue Twice, Cut Once

Another lesson learned - 8 1/2 by 9 1/2 is not square. I haven't quilted for awhile so getting back to a project and made a mistake cutting two pieces. Generally you can sew pieces upside down, inside out, miss matched or what have you and with a good ripping scissor can fix most anything. Mistakes in cutting are not so easy to fix - too little fabric left so need to buy more to cut again.

JP

lesson learned

I made this bee-themed runner a little while back, with the hopes to sell it in my shop. It was cute, but probably not the best-made item I was putting out there. Then, I got this crazy idea to wash it, just to make sure that I could say "machine washable" and not lie.

I would have been lying. The brown ran through from the back into all the stitching and bled over most of the white fabric. Sad.

I then hastily washed all my unwashed fabric (to ward off this mess again), and made a brand new bee-themed runner.

This one is better.

Two lessons learned - wash my fabric and if you aren't happy with the first, make another one - it WILL be better.

"trip to the fair" Baby Qilt

Kelly's Sunrise View

What a great view for morning coffee

A really cute little cabin on the lake

Men notice this one!

Such a lovely April that I just played outside. Yesterday, I opened up my sewing shop , turned up the heat and created this little table runner. When I was in GM, I bought this animal panel thinking it would make quick pot holders. I cut it apart, and added a few quilting touches and it turned out cool. Kind of fallish, so it may go in the drawer for now.

Happy May Day

Happy May Day!

Rain has finally come so things should really green up now.

one of my favorite camp sites

Spontanious! Sometimes it is best to just give your hostess only a day to prepare for her guests just so she doesnt spend days cleaning and preparing for company.
We just spent a wonderful weekend in Grand Marais. It was time to take our motor home for a drive and do a little camping. What a nice spot to camp- my sister's driveway! Great hospitality and meals and entertainment. Thanks!

Early Spring

April 17th!

Last year this weekend was Easter - we thought it great to be able to hike along the lake shore with a just a little snow and ice and out to lighthouse even through the snow. My flowers were still in frozen ground and a blanket of snow.

In a post last fall I included a picture of April 16th, 1995 - Marie, Kelly, and Cocoa were walking on crusted snow almost as high as our boat.

This year I can't stop the perennials from coming out of the ground. It's so dry they need to be watered and for sure there will still be frosty nights.

Reach for the Sun!

Cilantro, oregano, basil; I just couldnt wait to see something come out of the ground.

Go Twins!

Maybe someday I'll get to go through the gates into the new stadium - *sigh* - not for $200 tickets selling on the street though.

the dinosour in my yard

Many people have never seen a clothesline. This one, in my yard, is probably nearly 50 years old. It spans more than 20 feet and has 6 lines. I dont have enough clothes in my closet to fill it up. At times, I would like to be rid of it, but I do use it. Not the way we did when I was young, but I do hang jeans, rugs, blankets out. It comes in handy for drying out a tent and airing out sleeping bags.
I dreaded wash day as a kid. We had a wringer wash machine and this was the dryer. The wash machine was filled with hot water, and we had 2 big tubs of water for rinsing. There was a definate order to washing the family clothes. First, the dishtowels, then white clothes, sheets, towels, underwear,socks, colored shirts,etc. Last were the jeans, and then the smelly barn clothes.
All the weeks dirty clothes done in one day. We didnt have as many clothes and wore them several times before they were considered dirty.
There were rules about hanging clothes too, mostly having to do with saving space and utilization of the clothes pins. Todays clothes pins are "cheap" and break easily.
A small garden would be nice in this spot, but then I would have to fight the deer and rabbits, so I guess I will try to be a little "greener" and commit to drying more of my laundry; underwear and bras in the middle, so the neighbors cant see them.

yum

I can't wait to see my family for the Easter weekend that is coming up. Generally I like Easter as a holiday. It's not on my top holiday list - I think it started to decline when I was in architecture school and there were always projects due, so no traveling home for a weekend for me - but I do like an excuse to see family.

I do have one big issue with this holiday. HAM. I don't like it one bit (maybe in butter bun sandwiches, but only on occasion).

Dare I suggest breaking tradition and borrowing some Passover Brisket? Now there's a meat I can get behind.

This looks yummy:













Recipe at Pioneer Woman

Happy Birthday Marie

Happy Birthday Marie - you have given us 30 years of joy as your parents.

We love you - Mom & Dad

PS - Sorry we can't be there to share the birthday party.