Blackberry Creek Home Arts

Good Morning, Blogland!

Look what I found in my mailbox yesterday! My sweet young friend Falicia sent this to me. Falicia has a very full life these days with nursing school, work, and family. But she took time out to do this for me. Thank you, sweet friend. I will treasure this ornament for the rest of my life.

After much discussion and advice (lots from you all, thanks), I decided to take my monster patterns to Kinkos and have them enlarged. The nice young man who served me said he could enlarge them by 50% as I had asked, but it would cost more than elarging them by only 25% because he'dhave to use a different machine. Does that make sense to anyone? Not me. But I didn't argue, just asked him how much. I got all my monsters enlarged to the size I wanted for $1.50 per page. That's still a lot cheaper than the $5.95 per pattern it would cost to order the applique version of this pattern. I don't think I broke any copyright laws by enlarging them and using them for myself. I'm sure I'll hear about it if I did.

Of course, one change leads to another. I found that with the larger size monsters, I don't have enough of the black and white swirly fabric to make all the backgrounds, so I changed to the white-on-white star fabric. I think it looks pretty good. And I'll use the other fabric maybe for sashing or borders or somehow. I'll think about that later.

I got the one monster cut out. I think this size will be a lot more manageable for hand applique. 

Probably won't get much stitching done today. I have baking to do this morning--brownies for book club this afternoon and a rum cake for a neighborhood party tomorrow night.

Some of you have asked for the rum cake recipe and I'm posting it here. Just be advised that I have not yet used this recipe. My friend Barbara has though, and she says it's delish. You can also find it online.

 Bacardi Rum Cake

1 cup chopped pecans
1 box yellow cake mix (w.o. pudding)
1 (3 3/4 oz) pkg Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup dark rum (doesn't have to be Bacardi)

Grease 10 inch tube or 12 cup Bundt pan or spray with baking spray.  Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan.  Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter over nuts.  Bake 1 hour at 325.  Cool 15 minutes  and invert on rack.  Cool completely.  Prick top of cake and spoon or brush glaze evenly over top and sides.  Allow glaze to absorb and repeat until glaze is used up.

 Glaze

1/4 lb butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
 l/2 cup rum

Melt butter in saucepan and stir in water and sugar.  Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in rum.

You Little Monster!

I started on my monster blocks last night. I cut out some background blocks, then cut out the pieces for one of the monsters, the one in the photo. I used the pattern for the embroidered blocks without enlarging anything. I cut the background 8 1/2" x 10 1/2" and the monster pieces according.

Well, let me tell you, those little hands and antennae were almost impossible to deal with. Then I got to the teeth, and they were absolutely impossible to deal with. I finally had to embroider the teeth. 

I asked my friend Sally, who is also making a monster quilt, about my problem. Sally suggested that I enlarge everything 50%. So this little monster guy is going in my orphan blocks box, and I'm starting over with bigger pieces. Sorry, little guy.

Boy! Did we have a stormy night last night! The winds blew so hard, it sounded like my house was going to come off its foundation. The last time Sophie and I went outside, she could almost not stand up. Her ears were blowing up and back; she looked like The Flying Nun.

Today is sunny, warm, and windy, but I understand that frigid temps are on the way. I hope my sister gets her furnace fixed before they get here. This is the third time it has broken in the last week.

Christmas draws ever closer, and I still don't have the Christmas spirit. I guess everyone will just have to understand. I have done NO Christmas shopping, and don't plan to do any. I did purchase my Christmas cards a long time ago, when Hobby Lobby first put out their Christmas things, but I haven't addressed any of them. And the only decorating I've done is to hang my wreath and my mailbox garland.

Andy, Jesse, and I have been invited to have Christmas dinner at my sister's house. I'm going to make a rum cake (recipe compliments of my friend Barbara S.) and some other stuff. I think I'll have soup night here on Christmas Eve. Not big deal. Just come as you are and have a bowl. You're all invited.

Have a great Wednesday, everyone.

Christmas Bee at Sally's House

Today I attended my quilting bee's annual Christmas party, at Sally's house as usual. I had a great time and ate too much. The first order of business was Show & Tell. Rita showed us the gorgeous quilt she bought in Turkey in November. And Barbara showed us the quilt she made for her most recent grandbaby. 

  

After Show & Tell, we enjoyed our usual game of Dirty Santa. But this year, instead of everyone bringing a Christmas do-dad, each person brought gift-wrapped fabric--fat quarts, jelly rolls, yardage, whatever we wanted to bring. We all had fun opening packages, stealing from others and having a good time. I think Mary opened the most packages. People kept stealing from her. We've all vowed to have something made with the fabric that we got by our July meeting.

The package I opened contained this interesting black-and-white fabric, two yards. Not being a black-and-white kind of person, I didn't know what in the world I was going to do with it in the beginning. But by the time I got home, I had decided I would use it for background squares for my appliqued monster quilt I hope to make soon.

Below is a photo from my Flickr Faves of a finished monster quilt. You can use either applique or embroidery to make the quilt. I want to make one of each, like some of my quilting bee buddies have done.

After Dirty Santa, we enjoyed a fabulous feast made up of all the covered dishes everyone had brought. I feel like I won't need to eat again for weeks.

Below is my friend Sally's gorgeous Christmas cactuses. I don't think I've ever seen one quite so thick with blooms.

   

I'm so glad I had a party to go to today. This is Vann's birthday. I wouldn't have wanted to celebrate by myself. Happy Birthday, Boo. I know you must be having a heavenly party today.

 

Tide 32 - Gators 13

Congratulations to the
Alabama Crimson Tide 

2009 SEC Champs 

Next stop:
Pasadena, California
for the National Championship!

Roll Tide! 

A Santa Request

 

I saw a beautiful Santa collage on Beverly's blog and fell in love with it. If you'll click on the link, you can see the collage for yourself. I asked Beverly if I could borrow her idea and make one of my own. Being the sweetie that she is, she told me it would be fine.

So I pulled out my Christmas card collection, gathered over many years and started sorting Santas. I have a lot, but I feel like I need more to complete my collage. So here's my request: If you have any old Santa cards (or new Santa cards) that you'd like to part with, I could use them. Any Santa card will do: new old, vintage, modern, whimsical, any Santa at all.

If you have a card or cards you could send me, please leave comment here with your e-mail address and I'll e-mail you my snail mail address. Thanks a bunch.

***

Sophie and I are waiting impatiently for 3:00 to come (50 more minutes). That's when the SEC championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators begins. Both teams are undefeated. Both teams want to win badly. And Tim Tebow, Florida's QB, is without a doubt one of the best players to ever pass a pigskin.

But Sophie and I are betting the Crimson Tide Pachyderms will come through with a win--at least we hope so.

Do you like college football? If so, what team do you cheer for and why?

Waiting for the Snow

 

The weather gurus are suggesting the possibility of snow tonight. They never will just come right out and say it. I guess that's because they've been wrong so many times. I hope we get snow. I don't know why, I just love to see snow falling and leaves falling. And rain falling too.

It's very cold today, just the kind of weather that my fibromyalgia loves to come out and play in. But I have a new supply of coffee now. And that Vanilla Spiced Rum creamer in the photo is yummy. Those Annie's Honey Graham Bunnies are pretty good too. I bought them because I thought they were so cute, but they're really quite tasty. Just ask Sophie.

I've made some meager progress in the decluttering process, and local charities have benefitted. Yesterday, I drove to Birmingham to drop off five big boxes of men's coats and long sleeved shirts at a homeless shelter for men called Jimmie Hale Mission. It has been in operation in Birmingham for many many years and is an excellent mission. I've also donated many, many shirts, pants, and shoes to a charity closer to home that serves people in my hometown of Leeds. And my front porch is currently loaded with boxes to be picked up by the Kings Ranch/Hannah Home truck today. That's a charity that runs shelters for women and children.

 

So I think Vann is pleased with how I'm handling his clothes. But much of my house looks like the photo above--or worse. I'm looking so forward to the day when all the clutter will be gone and my house will be neat and organized.

In Vann's closet upstairs, I found an old leather jacket that was very worn and vintage looking--sort of like the one in the photo. I asked my grandson Jesse if he wanted it. He sort of sneered at it until I told him that such a vintage leather jacket would cost hundreds of dollars in shops in New York. He left wearing the jacket and a bright orange hunting cap, one of oodles of caps in Vann's wardrobe. Wish I had taken a photo.

Remember my friend Mr. Bill who had heart bypass surgery last month? He called a little while ago. He said the doctor has released him to drive and he's coming to visit me and Sophie. First he's stopping off at our friend Paul's house across the stress, then he's coming over here.

So I best close this post and clear a path to the front door so he can get in. Stay warm.

So That's Why They Call Them House Sparrows

Out of necessity, Sophie and I went outside yesterday during the high winds. Apparently I didn't pull the front door all the way closed. It had blown partially open when we returned. And we had a visitor.

The first clue I had was a terrible racket that sounded like marbles in the dryer. It was in fact Sophie's toenails as she tried frantically to gain purchase on the hardwood floor of the foyer. Around and around she went, while a little dark blur went before her. At first, because they were on the floor, I thought it was a mouse, so I screamed, "Eeeeek!" Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you have a mouse?

In the kitchen, Sophie tried to climb the wall to get the blur, so I thought maybe it was a flying blur. But I still couldn't tell if it was a big old flying bug or what. I finally got hold of Sophie and locked her in the bedroom. When I came back, I didn't see the blur anywhere. If I get real still and quiet, I reasoned, it will come out and I can catch it--or squash it if it happens to be a big old bug. Or run across the street and get Paul to come and squash it. But first I had to find it.

After being still and waiting for several minutes, and listening to Sophie scratch frantically on the bedroom door, I decided to quietly walk around the house and see if I could find the thing. A quick search of the first floor revealed nothing untoward, so I went upstairs where every door was standing open. Oh no, thought I, if it gets up here and hides, I'll never find it until one night it shows up in bed with me. Oh dear.

A thorough-as-possible search of the upstairs revealed no living critter of any shape nor size. I closed all the doors behind me, hoping I wasn't closing the thing in, and went back downstairs. As I came to the bottom of the stairs, there sat a sweet little brown sparrow on the back of the love seat. She looked rather rattled and confused. 

"Come to me, little birdie, and I'll put you back outside," I told her in a soft friendly voice. The birdie was not soothed however, and she took off flying all around the first floor with me in close pursuit. I almost caught her once when she got behind the wooden blinds but she got away and flew behind the front door, which was still standing open. As I was trying to retrieve her from behind the door, she found a crack under the door hinge, just big enough for her to squeeze through. And away she flew into the windy neighborhood. 

I was terribly relieved that the bird was out of my house unharmed--not to mention the fact that there was no big old bug taking up residence in The Yellow House. I let Sophie out of the bedroom and she spent the next 30 minutes sniffing the entire first floor and every piece of furniture in it before she settled down.

No harm, no foul, thought I. Then I saw my lampshade. The little house sparrow had left me a housewarming gift. 

 

 

Mission Accomplished

Bunny #10, the last one, is finished. I stitched him up last night while watching "Criminal Minds" reruns (nothing else to watch). No, I didn't watch the President's speech--the first one of his I've missed. And I'm sad this morning. War makes me sad. I think President Obama is the coolest thing since sliced bread, but he's no different from all the other presidents when it comes to war, I guess. Enough with the politics; back to bunnies.

I want to call this bunny Bad A-- Bunny, because he looks so mean. I don't know why he turned out with that disgruntled look in his eye. The bunny in the pattern just looks sort of noncommittal. I guess my bunny is mad because I saved him for last. Or could it be that he's reflecting how I felt at the time of stitching?

Next step in the bunny quilt is to make ten log cabin blocks--actually eight log cabins and one courthouse steps (a variation of log cabin). In the pattern, all the log cabin blocks are green and cream, but I might do mine multicolored. Haven't decided for sure.

It's cold, cloudy, wet, and blustery here today. Sophie won't even discuss going outside. Some people are whispering "snow" around here. I don't want to, but I have to go out. I'm out of coffee. I'm drinking my last pot now. 

Molly and The Fly Lady claim that if I will work on my clutter problem just 15 minutes a day, I'll have a neat house in no time flat. Trouble is, I can't work up the want-tos for the 15 minutes. Anyway, at 15 minutes a day, I calculate it will be the year 2057 before I have all the clutter decluttered. Sigh.

I'm going to pour the last cup of coffee in my pot and open my Dec. 2 secret Santa Advent gift now. Wow! Listen to that wind. I think that last gust was at least 60 miles an hour.

 

I Have a Secret Santa

 

I'm calling her Pearl, because that's what she is, a pearl in the oyster of friendship. HUH? "Pearl" sent me an Advent box. Each day until Christmas I get to open one gift. The photo shows the contents of my first gift, which I opened yesterday (a box of my favorite tea), and the second gift, which I opened this morning (an ornament for my Red Bird Tree).

 I also have a blogging friend, The Faerie Wysperer, who recently sent me a gift that I won in her giveaway: this lovely little bird house and another sweet red bird for my tree. Looks like I have to get to work and get that tree up.

I have vowed to never do any Christmas decorating until at least Dec. 1. October is for Halloween; November is for Thanksgiving. Then autumn is over and winter can begin. December is for Christmas. I don't believe in mixing holidays. 

Today I'll hang my front door wreath, if I can find it. And I'll remove my scarecrow arrangement from around my mailbox. Soon, very soon, I'll put up my red bird tree.

When do you do your Christmas decorating? Do you do a little or a lot?

Under the Dome

 

The mysterious invisible dome that has descended upon the little Maine town of Chester's Mill seriously inhibits communication with the outside world. And that's where I've been all weekend, my nose planted firmly within the pages of this four-pound tome. That's why I haven't been blogging or facebooking or much of anything except reading. It's a page turner, the best book Stephen King has written in a while, in my opinion.

I did take time out yesterday afternoon to work on the last two bunny blocks. I finished Brown Bunny, block #9, and have block #10 (the last block) cut out and ready to baste. Then I went back to reading.

I'm not the speediest of readers, especially since my eyes have aged and my eye doctor can't get my glasses right. I'm about 700 pages into the book and hope to get back to it today after I do a little declutter work upstairs. And maybe this evening, I'll get that last bunny block done or work on my snowball blocks. Still have a few hsts to trim.

Neighbors were busy this weekend putting up signs of the season. Not me. I'll hang my front door wreath tomorrow, Dec. 1, and then who knows when I'll get my little tree up or embellish the dining table? Before Dec. 25, for sure. On our last walk last night, Sophie and I took a couple of photos of neighborhood bling. 

 This is Paul and Karen's front yard. The reindeer's heads move back and forth, and the small gift box opens and closes.

I thought Nolan's little trees were the cutest things. But Sophie was more interested in the big bug creeping down the curb. 

We have a very rainy, dreary morning today--the type of weather when I work all day trying to get Sophie to outside for bathroom duty. This morning, I figured out a secret. Sophie hates water falling on her back. I know that from her baths. So I decided to dress her in her red sweater a while ago, and she went outside just like it was a sunny day. She used to have a little rain coat, but she seems to have lost it somewhere.

I just heard on CNN that 195 million people turned out for Black Friday shopping. I was not one of them. I'm happy for the economy, but for the life of me I don't understand why anyone would want to get up at 4:00 a.m. to go and battle Mall crowds for prices that you can probably find from now until Christmas, maybe even lower. It's like hunting to me. I've always wondered at Vann and his friends' fondness for getting out of a warm bed in the wee hours to go sit up in a tree in the cold and damp and hope a deer wanders by. To each his own, I guess. Happy Monday, everyone.

A Turkey-less Thanksgiving

 

Vann usually gave me flowers on our anniversary, so my daughter Andy continued the tradition for him--red roses and those pink flowers that I love and can never remember what they're called. 

Andy and I had planned to go out for Thanksgiving lunch, then see a movie. Who knew all the movies we wanted to see would be sold out and that the only restaurant in the whole city of Birmingham that we could find open would be Cracker Barrel? Now, we like Cracker Barrel and would have been happy to take out Thanksgiving Day repast there. But when we saw the crowd, we almost lost our appetites. There was a line to get in line to get a number to get a table. We would have still been waiting.

But thank God for Wal-Mart, we did not go hungry nor unentertained. While I gathered supplies for lunch (rotisserie chicken, pasta salad, stove top stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin cake) Andy perused the movie offerings in the Red Box and found a couple that looked interesting.

Back home, we chowed down and watched "Angels and Demons" and "Last Chance Harvey," two excellent movies. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sophie snuggled up beside me on the sofa during the movies, and we all knew Vann was right there with us adding to the warmth and love. While I know the grandmothers would cringe at the thought of their offspring eating Stove Top Stuffing on Thanksgiving Day, we rather enjoyed it. Pile enough cranberry sauce on it, and you almost think it's Granny Wright's dressing. (Not really, Irene; I jest.)

I did not get up at 4:00 a.m. this morning to fight the crowds at the malls for a 20% discount, and I never will. In fact, I've taken the "Buy Nothing" pledge today. I'm staying out of stores.

This morning got off to an excellent start when my neighbor Mary Jane and her doggie Millie stopped by with a piece of her delicious apple sauce cake. Along with a cup of coffee, it made an outstanding breakfast.

Today I'm going for a haircut (much needed), then this afternoon Andy, Sophie, and I are going to watch The Iron Bowl. That's the annual football game rivalry between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers. Being dyed-in-the-wool Bama fans, we're pulling for the Tide. But no matter how the season has gone so far, this game is never a done deal. It should be very interesting. Of course, Bama is #2 (I think) and going to the SEC championship game with Florida; but that all just means that Auburn will fight that much harder to clean their plow. 

I hope all of you are full and happy from you Turkey Day doings. Thank you all for your comments, thoughts, and prayers for me. I am blessed in many ways, among them the fact that I have all of you for friends.

From My Heart

It's not difficult to come up with something to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day. I thank God for the time he gave me with my husband Vann. Today is the 15th anniversary of our marriage, the second time that our anniversary has fallen on Thanksgiving. Happy Anniversary, Boo. I'm so thankful for you.

 

   

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my blogging friends!

I Married a Hoarder

 

That picture could be me upstairs in the storage room trying to clear away clutter.

This week, I have been packing up stuff, mostly Vann's clothes. With winter coming on and so many people without jobs, I started thinking about all the good those clothes could do. So I called a local charity and was told that they would be very happy to distribute Vann's clothes to the needy. 

Over 100 shirts, I kid you not, I have packed. And there are still more shirts hanging in upstairs closets. A like number pairs of pants, shoes out the wazoo, and boxes and boxes of baseball caps. I'd say at least 65 thousand caps. Maybe 65 million. 

And the basement is another story. Even after Vann and his friend Bill worked for days cleaning it out after Vann got sick, and Bo took things to sell, and I don't even know what all the kids took, it's still a mess of clutter.

And the storage room upstairs: dozens of old cameras, National Geos going back for years and years, photos, slides, books, boxes and boxes and who knows what.

But, thank the good Lord, Vann's clutter is not like what I saw on that show last night, "Hoarders," that comes on the A&E channel. At least Vann was a neat hoarder. I'm not afraid of coming across anything nasty or alive while I'm cleaning out his stuff.

But that show answered some questions for me. I was becoming doubtful about getting rid of Vann's clutter. I was feeling like maybe I should hold on to all of it out of love for him, but after watching that show, I've decided I want everything out of my house that doesn't serve a purpose. If I don't use it, like to look at it, eat it, listen to it, read it, sew it, or need to keep it because of someone else, it's going. My stuff and Vann's. I don't ever want to become a pathological hoarder. 

That was a very scary show, to see the kind of messes that people live in because they've let their hoarding tendency get the better of them. Some of them had anxiety attacks and cried when the Hoarders crew came to clean out the messes. Some even refused to give up their messes. Out of the four cases I saw, only one fellow cooperated and was very grateful to the people who helped him put his life in order. The others were willing to give up family, friends, or whatever in order to hang on to their crap.

And I could become a hoarder. I love to collect stuff. Especially fabric, but other things too.  I have a few collections, mostly packed away in boxes. I usually don't make New Years' Resolutions, but my 2010 resolution is that by the end of the year my house is going to be clutter free and organized. I'm sure it will take me that long to get the job done. In days of yore, I could have done it all in a week or so. But those days are long gone. These days I need frequent and long rest periods between work periods.

Last night, while watching that "Hoarders" show, I finished Red Bow Bunny (photo below). He's bunny #10. Only two more bunnies to go. I also trimmed  a jillion or so 2 1/2" hsts (half square triangle squares) for my snowball challenge quilt. I have about a half a jillion to go. I will never again make another quilt that requires that many triangle squares. At least I hope i don't 

 

Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone. As I think I said before, tomorrow is also Vann and my 15th wedding anniversary. We were married November 26, 1994. I am not doing the traditional Thanksgiving this year, for the first time ever. Instead, my daughter and I are going out to eat and then we're going to see a movie--"The Blind Side," I think. 

NOTE: I amost forgot to tell the worst thing of all about that show. At every, I mean every, commercial break, the first ad that came on showed this young couple, looking at their new house sitting between a couple of other houses. Their house had a reasonable number of Christmas lights on it. The other houses looked like the Griswolds lived in them. The young couple looks at each other and one says, "We need more stuff," and the other says "Yeah, lots more stuff." And then the commercial goes on to tout the low prices of all kinds of stuff. Is this not crazy? Do we not live in a crazy world? I ask you.

Pie Recipe

I haven't written two posts in one day in a long time, but here goes. My friend Sherry called me a while ago with a request for the sweet potato-pineapple pie recipe. Her call reminded me that I intended to post the recipe on my blog because several of you had asked for it. So here 'tis.

Sweet Potato-Pineapple Pie
Servings: Servings: 8

Ingredients:
2 cans (15 ounces) yams in light syrup, drained and mashed
1 (9-inch) uncooked pie shell
3 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup canned evaporated milk
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, well drained
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 Whipped Cream or Cool Whip


Preparation:
Mash the yams with a potato masher or an electric mixer.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prick the pie shell all over with a fork. Place the pie shell on a baking sheet and bake until the shell is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove the pie shell from the oven.

Whisk the eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl to dissolve the sugar. Add the mashed yams, evaporated milk, pineapple, butter and cinnamon and whisk well to combine. Pour into pie shell.

Return the pie to the oven and bake 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F. Bake until a knife inserted in the center exits clean, about 45 minutes. Cool completely. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

More Chicken Soup, Please

I'm still in the grip of la grippe. I didn't make church yesterday. I had to sleep last night propped up in a sitting position so I wouldn't cough. And only then after taking Nyquil AND a Benadryl, neither of which I like to take. I want to say I feel a little better this morning, but I think I'll have to wait till night to see if I really do feel better. For some reason, when I have a cold, it's always worse at night. I guess that's true with everyone.

I did get a tiny bit of creative stuff done yesterday. I pressed the seams of all 400- and-something bias squares for the snowball challenge quilt. I have to trim them all to exactly 2 1/2 inches. I started doing that, but got tired and stopped. I also got Bunny #8 cut out and ready to baste.

Kim, a Facebook friend, has done something I want to share with you. She used the Rouenneries fabrics that I'm using for my challenge quilt to make a snowball quilt--not the challenge design, just a regular snowball. I suggest you go over to Kim's blog and take a look. It's absolutely gorgeous. Sometimes simple is the prettiest of all.

I have to make a sweet potato casserole today. Our WOW (Women of Worship) group is selling holiday casseroles. After that, I'm going to work on the bunny block.

My head is so stuffy it's making my brain sluggish, and I'm not coming up with any scintillating prose this morning, so I'll sign off. Hope everyone is looking forward to the holiday and coming up with lots and lots of things to be thanksful for. My blessings cup runneth over.

Bunny #7 and Sweet Potato Pie

It was a gorgeous fall day here at the Yellow House. Sophie and I spent a little time outside, went for a walk, visited the neighbors. 

I also finished up Bunny Block #7 and baked two sweet potato-pineapple pies. I kept one and gave one to Vann's friend Bo, who was a big help to Vann getting all his bench-rest shooting equipment sold. Vann got too sick to finish up the sales listings, so Bo came by today to get some more of the equipment.

I still have my cold. But I'm continuing with the cold meds and lots and lots of juice, tea, and water. I hope I feel like going to church in the morning. But it's supposed to rain, so we'll see.

Four Bunnies to Go

Until this fall, I had not had a cold or the flu for years and years. I had allergies and sinus infections and bronchitis and nearly pneumonia, but no plain old colds or flu. Now this fall I've already had both. So I'm dosed up with Sudafed and Ibuprofen and drinking plenty of liquids trying to get the cold to go away.

I got the pink bunny block finished yesterday and the seventh bunny block cut out and ready to baste. Getting near the end of bunny blocks. The rest of the quilt will be log cabin blocks.

I also got all of my bias squares sewn for the snowball challenge. But I still have a long way to go on that quilt. I found a backing for it though, in my sewing room closet. A piece of fabric that I bought years ago and forgot about. Its colors are just right. I'll show the fabric later, don't have a photo right now.

Harken back to my red shoe post of a few days ago. I now have a copy of the photo of my niece in her prom outfit, complete with her red shoes. As you can see, they show no ill effects of their brief sojourn in the toilet, thanks to whatever Buffy and I did to save them.

I hope everyone is looking forward to a good weekend. I also hope my supply of Kleenex holds out because I don't feel like going out to buy more.

Another Kind of "I Spy" Snowball

I haven't done much sewing the past couple of days, and my hand and arm are feeling much better. Will probably finish up that pink bunny block today--maybe.

Thought I'd show you another kind of snowball quilt that I made several years ago. I started this in an Ami Simms workshop when she visited our guild. 

I'll start right out by saying that while this was a fun quilt to make, it wasn't easy--at least not for me. The black squares between the snowballs are dimensional and are done by a process of sewing and folding and turning and twisting--a process that can get a little confusing. A different button is sewn onto each of the black squares. I bought a pack of buttons from Ami for this, but I think I used some of my own as well.

The pattern came from Ami's book Picture Play Quilts, which contains lots of fun patterns for kid's quilts, most of them not as complicated to make as this one, which is called Hugs & Kisses. Can you see the Xs and Os?

I made the quilt to raffle to raise funds for a playground project that my church was doing at the time. But by the time I finished the quilt, some people in the church had decided that raffling a quilt was gambling and that we couldn't do it. So they decided to sell the quilt on Ebay. I made a donation to the playground fund, took the quilt back, and here it is. My friend Lena Colley at New Traditions Quilting quilted it.

My pastor asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would make a quilt to hang in the nursery at church. I wonder if this one would work. I think I'll ask.

***

One year ago today, Vann and I received the diagnosis of his pancreatic cancer. We came home and immediately asked everyone we knew, including all of you, for prayer. How would we ever have made it through this terrible year without those prayers? Thank you all so much.

And while it has been a terrible year, there was joy as well. Vann and I spent some of our most intimate times together, talking of how much God means to us both, and how death is just a trip home. In the end, Vann had his spiritual bags packed and was ready to make that trip. I hope I can be as ready as he was when my time comes.

Bunnies On Hold

My right hand and arm are much better today, but I can tell that there's still some inflammation or irritation or something there. So I think I'll leave off hand sewing, which means the bunny blocks, for another day.

But I might get on with constructing my snowball bias squares, since that's done on the machine. I think I can probably sew them with my brace on since it leaves my fingers free. I can type with it on, so I should be able to sew squares.

 

I did get some reading done yesterday. I finished two books and started another. The one I started is Stephen King's new novel, The Dome. I was hooked from the first page. So even though it's a big big book, something like 1,100 pages, it should be an easy read.

Andy brought me a book last night, Life Lessons by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler. This morning while I was drinking my coffee, I started it and I'm hooked on it too. So here I go, reading two books at once again.

Andy and Lori have been bringing me boxes so that I can start packing up some of Vann's things, to keep and to give away. So I might try to get at least one box packed today. Maybe it will be easier if I just do a little at a time.

I'm sneezing, my thoat is sore, and my eyes are swollen and watery this morning. I took a whatcha callit pill for allergy but it hasn't helped yet. If the sewing and/or packing doesn't go well, I might just lie back down and read Stephen King's book.

Here's something I've been forgetting for days and days and I want to post it. A good blogging friend and fellow quilter, Donna, honored Blackberry Creek with a Kreative Blogger Award.

Donna lost her sweet daughter Amber recently. I don't know what it's like to lose a child, but I know what an awful companion grief is. I know Donna would be cheered to have you stop by her blog for a visit. It's a wonderful blog, full of beautiful quilts, home decor, and stories of her family, including her dear Amber.

Achey Breaky Tuesday

I did a LOT of sewing yesterday. I finished Bunny #5 (photo at left) started bunny #6 (photos below), made test blocks for the snowball challenge (photo below), and worked on the rest of my snowball bias squares (no photo).  

I don't think I'll be doing any sewing today though. In fact, I'm having a bit of trouble typing. I have aggravated the carpel tunnel thing in my right hand apparently. It's hurting like heck this morning. I think I'm going to go dig out the brace I haven't used in a long time.

And it's not just the right hand and arm that hurts. It's a chilly damp morning, and all my conditions are acting up. Achey, creaky, stiff, and tired. I think this might be a day for lying around with Mr. Earl Grey and reading.

 

 

I Spy Snowballs

Thanks to everyone who left comments and advice on my "Taking Stock" post. I promise I won't get rid of stuff willy nilly for now. There's a big closet in my office/study room. Right now, that room also is the home of most of my crafting supplies that aren't sewing related. The room is a big old mess is what it is.

Vann has always used the closet for his hunting wardrobe--you know, all that camo stuff. So here's the plan. I'm going to pack up the camo and clean out that closet.(Not giving the camo away either, at least not for now until I see if the boys want any of it.) I'll purchase some inexpensive shelving at WalMart or somewhere and make the closet home for all my crafting supplies. Even if I don't ever use them again, they'll be much easier for someone else to dispose of if I should happen to croak or move to Italy. So that's settled. Not done--just settled.

You might be wondering about the quilt in the photo. That's the snowball quilt I made for my grandson Jesse when he was 10 or 11. He's 20 now and still uses it. Andy brought it yesterday to wash, and I took some photos while it was hanging on the line.

I made it on the "I Spy" quilt principle. Each block is a different fun print. Click on the photo to enlarge and you can see the prints better. Some blocks have photo transfers of Jesse himself. The photos have faded a bit, but the quilt is as bright and fun as always.

 

 

 

Speaking of snowball quilts, I hope to make progress on my snowball challenge this week. I got the October Garden units that I was chainpiecing (zillions of them) out from under the sewing machine presser foot this weekend. So now I can start chain pieceing the snowball bias squares.

I also got another bunny almost finished this weekend. Just a little more embroidery on her scarf, then I'll snow her here. 

I find I'm liking working on several projects at once. It keeps things more interesting and staves off boredom. 

Taking Stock

I probably spend more time than I should blogging. But next to quilting, its my favorite activity. So, as I always say, you gotta be doing something. And blogging is better than doing drugs. So here goes my Saturday blog.

Lucky me, or should I say lucky I, won a door prize at book club yesterday. That's it in the photo at right. I was in dire need of new kitchen linens, and autumn is my favorite season. And isn't that ceramic pumpkin pretty? This prize had my name written all over it. Thanks, Barbara.

We discussed The Help by Kathryn Stockett at book club. It was a great book to inspire conversation. Everyone agreed they loved it; but I don't think everyone agreed on just how true a portrait it painted of life in the South in the 60s, especially for "the help." But you know, that's why God made lots of opinions I guess--so everyone could have one. I do believe, however, if we had an African American member in our book club, we would have seen things in a different light.

I've been taking stock of a lot of things in my life these days. When you go through a life-changing event, like losing your precious husband, I guess it's only normal to start reevaluating the flotsam and jetsam of your life. The first thing I decided is that my attention is too scattered. I need to narrow my interests down a little so that I can spend more time on things I love. First I have to realize that my hobbies have to leave room for other important things: family, friends, church, etc. Things that can't be tossed out. But what about hobbies? Well let's see.

Currently, hobbywise, I love to sew, quilt, read, blog, crochet, knit, paper craft, cook, do jigsaw puzzles and word puzzles. Whoa! That's a lot of hobbies. So I asked myself, "Which ones would really and truly grieve me if I had to give them up." That was a pretty easy question to answer: sewing/quilting, reading, and blogging. That's still a lot, but manageable, I believe

As you can see, my to-be-read stacks are getting out of control. (And my new Stephen King book that came yesterday, at about 1,100 pages, is a stack unto itself.) I'm many book behind, and there are more that I want to add. But I'm not going to, not until at least half of these move to the already-read stack. So there's that.

As for sewing/quilting, I've been talking about all the projects I have going all week. I haven't even touched on how many others that I have fabric/patterns/etc. for that I haven't even started. So there's that.

Blogging is the only hobby I have that requires no materials or equipment except my computer and camera. And time. There's that. A lot of that.

Those three things (sewing, reading, and blogging) sound like a gracious plenty to fill the leisurely hours of one woman, don't they. So, for now at least, I'm going to start culling out materials. I have a boo-koodle of yarn, for instance. I have boxes and boxes full of paper craft materials. I have paints and rubber stamps and beads (I hate beading) and I don't know what-all. I haven't actually decided to get rid of all that yet, but I am going to store it away, get it out of my living/working spaces and put it up in closets. 

I believe just not having to look at so much STUFF will help me mentally and spiritually to simply and calm my life. Right now, I always feel like I'm in a hurry. No matter what I'm doing or what's coming up, I feel like there's a clock ticking in the room: hurry up, tick tock, hurry up, tick tock. That's not good. I believe that a lot of that is caused by trying to spread my attention too thin.

So at least for now, yarn crafts and paper crafts and puzzles and unnecessary cooking are on vacation. There might even be some awesome giveaways in the future of Blackberry Creek to get rid of some of my superfluous craft materials. Watch and see.

Uh Oh!

Guess what today is? Yep, Friday the 13th, the third one of these supposedly unlucky days we've had this year. We won't have another year with three Friday 13ths until 2015. Did you know that? I didn't either until I googled.

If you research Friday 13 a little, you'll find that all kinds of bad things have happened on this date. I haven't tested this theory, but I'll bet that you could google Tuesday the 11th or any other day and find all kinds of bad things happening. And good things too.

Fortunately I'm not superstitious. The sun's shining, it's a lovely day, and I have book club this afternoon. I sure don't want to cower in the house, afraid of falling in a sinkhole or having the sky fall one me.

Oh, and see that notation under 13 in the photo above? That means Sophie has an appointment for a grooming this afternoon. But don't tell her. She'll be the one cowering in the house. She hates it when Diane comes. I don't blame her. I don't like to go for haircuts either, which I have to do very soon.

I got quite a bit done yesterday. I worked on the "October Garden" pieces and got a lot of sewing done with that. Then I prepared another bunny block for stitching and finished that annoying two-bunny block that was giving me such problems.

In addition to the sewing room work, I got a pot of Brunswick Stew made. No, I can't eat all that. I'll take most of it to my neighbors whose son Mike just had the spinal biopsy. He'll be coming home (to their house) tomorrow and I thought a nice hot bowl of stew would be a good way to welcome him.

 
 That crease across Mr. Blue Bunny will be pressed out before this block goes into a quilt.

 
 Another bunny ready for basting.

Brunswick Stew ready for tasting.
(I made a poem.)

Red Shoe Dairies

Nicole's blog post this morning got me to thinking about Buffy's red shoes, which got me thinking about red shoes in general. It seems that from time to time, red shoes have come into my life to leave memories. And these days, anything has to be pretty special to leave a lasting memory. So I've decided that red shoes must be a special part of my life.

Sweet Mary Janes
My first memory of red shoes is from long long ago. I don't know how old I was, but I know I was very young. Mama and Daddy were going to town shopping, so it must have been a Saturday. My Paw Paw was at our house to stay with me and my little sister. I needed shoes, and Mama promised she would bring me a new pair if I would stay with Paw Paw and not put up a fuss. I agreed, but only if she'd bring me red shoes. AND SHE DID! I remember exactly how those shoes looked and how they felt and smelled. They were patent leather Mary Jane's. I loved those shoes so much. A new toy wouldn't have made me any happier.

My Bad
My next memory of red shoes involved something that I did that I shouldn't have. It was about 1973 or 74. My first husband and I had separated temporarily, a foreshadowing of the divorce that would come less than 10 years later. I was staying with my parents and working at a data processing center while Mama kept the kids. My younger sister lived with my parents at the time. She had a beautiful pair of red leather pumps with wood-grain stacked heels. One day I wore them to work without asking her. They were so comfortable and I loved wearing them. But I paid when I got home. I don't remember what my sister said to me, but it wasn't pretty. She was not happy that I had worn her shoes without asking. I never did again.

Buffy's Bleedin' Shoe
My final red shoe memory involves my niece Buffy, the daughter of my sister whose shoes I wore without permission. It was the afternoon of Buffy's prom night, and my sister was at work. Buffy was home preparing for her big night. She was wearing a short red sequined gown and red shoes dyed to match.

My phone rang and it was Buffy in a fit of panic. She had accidentally dropped one of her red shoes in the toilet and the dye was running. Buff's tears were running just as profusely. She had a mess on her hands and her mom couldn't leave work to help. She didn't know what to do.

Aunt Suzie to the rescue. We dried the shoe with the hair dryer, I believe. And we painted it all back red, but I can't remember what we used to paint it. I know we didn't have the dye, because she had had the shoes professionally dyed. Maybe we had acrylic paint; I just don't remember. Somewhere I have a copy of Buffy's prom photo from that night, but I can't find it. She was adorable, and you can't tell at all that one of her shoes had taken a dip in the toilet.

In Other News
A while back, I asked for prayers for a couple of friends: Bill, who was having open heart surgery and Mike, who has been battling an undiagnosed medical problem for almost a year. I am happy to say that Bill came through his surgery with flying colors and is doing fine. Mike's story is not as happy, but at least there's news. After going to doctors all over the country, including the Mayo in Minneapolis, he decided to endure a spinal biopsy here at UAB in Birmingham. This is a very dangerous procedure that has a 50% chance of leaving the patient paralyzed. Mike came through his surgery fine, no paralysis. But the biopsy confirmed that he has glioma (cancer) on his spine. No decision yet as to what direction his treatment will go. Thank you all for your prayers for my friends.

I got the results of my cholesterol test this morning. I'm back in the normal range, thank God. Dr. M. laughed at me when I told him how much oatmeal I've been eating. I don't think he gives much credit to the stuff as a cholesterol lowerer. But he said if I like oatmeal (and I do), it wouldn't hurt me to keep eating it. Pooh on him. I believe the oatmeal helped lower my cholesterol, along with the Zocor. I don't care what he says. But doctor's orders are to stay on the Zocor. But it's the lowest dose.

Well, I really ran on today, didn't I. I'll sign off now and see if I can get some sewing done while Linda and her niece are cleaning house.

NOTE: The photo mosaic above was created from my Flickr favorites. Below are photo credits.

1. The Red Shoes, 2. Red's Shoes, too, 3. Red Shoes! / 红色鞋子!, 4. Red shoes......, 5. The Red Shoes I'm Not Suppose to Have, 6. For The LOVE Of Red Shoes..., 7. red shoes, 8. red shoes 12, 9. Red Shoes_Pier, 10. My Obsession with Red Shoes, 11. New red shoes, 12. red shoes 29

Water World

Poor Soph. As much as she hates to take a bath, she hates to go out in the rain even more. But when, thanks to Hurricane Ida, it rains for more than 24 hours straight, with no break in the wet stuff, a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do. 

I tried all day to get Sophie out for a nature call, but nothing doing. I would pick her up and take her out and put her down on the grass in the rain, trying to hold the umbrella so that it would protect us both (it didn't real help either one of us). She'd run right back to the door and huddle there until I let her in. We both stayed pretty damp all day from these efforts. Finally at about 6:00 last night, she'd had all she could take. She was running back and forth to the door and looking up at me with panic in her eyes. So I found an old rain coat and a hat of Vann's and got dressed. This time, I hooked Soph to the leash, determined that we weren't coming back till we got some actions.

So out we went into the water-logged neighborhood. Water was coursing down the streets and driveways, and the wind was blowing pretty hard as well. But Soph persevered. We were out in the deluge for only about five minutes before she found just the right spot.

Back inside, we worked with hairdryer and towels until we were both more or less dry. Then I made a cup of hot Earl Grey, and Sophie snuggled up on the back of the couch.

This morning, the rain is gone, so I took Sophie for a long walk to stretch her legs after being cabin-bound all day yesterday.

Today, I have an appointment at my doctor's office for another blood test to check cholesterol. Last month's test showed that my cholesterol as well as my triglycerides were high. Dr. M. prescribed Zocor and I began and all-out horse diet: oats. Every morning for breakfast, I've had a bowl of oatmeal. At night, if I crave a snack, I have a bowl of Cherrios. Not as good as cookies and ice cream, but it suffices. I'm hopeful that the Zocor and the oats combined have brought my numbers back to normal.

I worked some on quilts yesterday. Finished cutting the rest of the pieces for the Snowball Challenge quilt. Then I started another bunny block. This one, for some reason, gave me fits. The design has two bunnies this time instead of just one. I kept getting the second bunny placed wrong and had to take out stitches twice. Then I got his bow place wrong, and had to take that out. I never got the block finished before I got sleepy and went to bed. I'm determined to get it completely stitched today.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY to everyone, but especially to all our men and women who have made sacrifices so that others might live free.