End of November

Thanksgiving is over and it is time to start looking toward Christmas holidays. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for John's family. On Friday, Annie went shopping in Lexington with friends and John and I took the grandbabies to Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark. (I think you can double click on that last picture and enlarge the waterpark picture)
We had a great time. Annie joined us Saturday for another good day of swimming.

To get in the Christmas spirit, Lily, Bonnie, Karen and I went to the Arnoff Center to see the Broadway version of White Christmas - remember the movie with Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby. Nick Clooney - Rosemary's brother and George's father - was there and I thought about what memories it must have brought back to him of their heyday.

The weather man says snow this week so I guess fall is gone. My impatiens bit the dust this weekend. So I guess my thoughts need to think about surviving winter.

Tomorrow is Lily's surgery so I'll be with her for a few days.

Have a good one!

Char

October and November

I can't believe that it is November 17th and my impatiens are still blooming!! And I can't believe I have been smoke-free for 9 - count 'em - 9 months! Yea for me!!!What happened in October? Jake and Emerson headed out to trick or treat as star wars fighter and a garden gnome.

Ray and Maureen got engaged although they don't know when or where the wedding will be. Either Red River Gorge or Jacksonville Beach sometime in October 2010 is the consensus so far.

Jake played football which was a hoot - expecially when the coach grabbed the jersey and slung them where they were suppose to be. It was organized chaos and to teach 5 year olds - "Okay between 5 and 7 tonight it is okay to hit people with all your might!" but he wore #33 - John's Whitesburg number. Memories!!!

Yes, I am still quilting. I hope to get pictures today of a couple of the quilts I am working on which are unique. With 8 projects purchased, I am trying to stay out of the fabric stores but it is hard!!

Thanksgiving is creeping up on us and we look forward to it. One of the highlights of the weekend will be a showing of the jewelry Hannah has made which she will selling.

I bought the turkey, pan to roast it in and Sister Schubert rolls. Last year I could find Sister Schubert - this year I got the last 3 they had. I think it is a conspiracy so you will buy Kroger's brand.

Have a good one and I'll tell you more about October/November tomorrow. But for now, Lucilu is calling!!

Where does time go?

Every now and then someone will email and ask - when are you going to do another blog?

Well, I'm trying now.

It seems that, to do a blog, you have to have some creative juices flowing and I think the creative juices are beginning to dry up - along with many other juices - for a woman of a certain age!! It is horrible to try to get the pancreatic juices flowing - therefore the diabetes - and stoking them with carbs just doesn't seem to help.

How am I you ask? I'm fine. Today is another beautiful fall day - I can't believe that in Kentucky I have the back door open in the middle of November.Today I am dogsitting Prissy so Lily can go get an MRI on her knee. She went to California to see her sister-in-law Doris and, I think, she walked too much. But who would want to miss all the sights she saw - the Getty Museum, the pier on the ocean, etc. Anyways I will let you know how the doctor says her knee is (for a woman of a certain age).I haven't written since the first of August when I was headed to Michigan. So I think it will take me several posts to catch you up. Plus I broke my camera so my pictures are from my phone which aren't so good. John reminded me that they sell Fisher Price plastic digital phones for 3 year olds and maybe I should get one of those. They should be indestructable!!! Is he telling me something?

Speaking of three year olds - how's this for someone who wants to accessorize? Think she might take after Nana?This is as long as Lucilu can stand for me to be on the computer. More later today

August Already?

I know - I haven't blogged in forever. It is extremely hard to get a retired teacher to do anything in June, July and August. So I have been taking time off from blogging - it takes too much creativity and thought.
But I thought I'd let you know -

I look like this - I am very frazzled - as evidenced by my locking my keys in my car and missing my class reunion. Notice there is no cigarette with that cup of coffee. Another reason my lungs feel better and my nerves are shot!

Sitting at the sewing machine has become an obsession and I need to get out in the sun.....

It seems like yesterday I was out with Luci wishing it would warm up.

Well, it has warmed up - warmed up enough for the fleas to drive me and Luci crazy anyways.

She can't stay ahead of them no matter how high she jumps. If I don't get outside, the summer will be a short memory for me.
So Lily and I are heading for the lake in Michigan.

See you in September!!!!!!!

June Quilting

This blog is suppose to be about quilting. So I guess I should show you what me and my Singer have accomplished during June. I didn't compress the pictures so, Vicki, if you double-click on them you should be able to enlarge them for older eyes!!! LOL

This is my feeble attempt to teach myself how to do free motion stippling. I start kinda rough but then I can get into a rhythm and my stitches start getting more consistent. I know the quilt police won't come get my work but 100 years from now one of my great, great grandchildren may look at these and say - "Grandma Effie could have been a great quilter if she'd just practice on her machine more instead of watching reruns of NCIS and Law and Order!"

To make my stippling practice mean something, I made a two sided table topper. One side is traditional floral pattern - it's suppose to look like flowers through a black wrought iron fence??? -- and the other side is my hippie personality - batiks of beautiful colors and patterns with no particular pattern. Looking back, I think it is sad that I let the hippie movement pass me by. I couldn't let my hair grow, wear birkenstocks and not shave my legs. And God forbid someone ask me to give up hairspray and control top panty hose!!!!!

'

These are my two holiday wall hangings. Hope they show that I celebrate Mother's Day - I had beautiful sons instead of hanging out in Haight Asbury!!. And one can be Flag Day (so I can hang it in June) and Fourth of July. That gets me through to August when there are no holidays - just school starts again! Could I hang it for Labor Day????

In an earlier post, I showed my efforts to use up some scraps left over from earlier projects.

I have combined these efforts and have a quilt top for my bed. I can practice free motion quilting on it and when I sleep under it I will be reminded of the quilts I have made and the wonderful people I have given them to. Have you got your order in yet?

If you're having a bad day and the chocolate is all gone, call a friend!! Would love to hear from you!! Charlene

June is plants and good weather

June is almost gone and I'm just now getting to blog writing. Thanks to all those who said they had missed my comments. Summertime just must be enjoyed outside, not at a computer. And when I am at the computer, I have been downloading all my CDs to put on my phone. John is dragging me into the use of phones for more than talking. I didn't know they could do all this stuff like make your phone almost like an ipod and GPS on a phone makes you brave enough to go without worrying about getting lost!!!

I have been busy with different projects. I went to Louisville to get some wooden ladders that Larry B. had gotten for me. I have put all three to good use. I want to paint all three black and add some trim but so far I have only gotten one painted. As you can see, it may be awhile before I get them painted - at least the one that is supporting the tomatoes plants.

I would like to imagine I am in the tropics!!!

More later!!

Simplify. Slow down. Breathe deeply. Hide your to-do list. Sit still for ten minutes... and use this quiet time to thank God for your friends.

Charlene

I'm Back!

I'm back. When I looked at my blog, I couldn't believe it has been a month since I posted anything. I got busy. When you aren't smoking, you have to piddle. So I got to spring cleaning - and I mean extreme spring cleaning. Cleaning windows, taking down drapes, moving all the furniture, cleaning carpets, spackling nail holes, touch-up painting, planting flowers and tomatoes. I really thought I was either pregnant (I was nesting!) or getting ready to die (I have horrors of EMTs having to come into a nasty, upkept bedroom to pronounce me dead.) And, although I can wear maternity clothes very comfortably - and fill them out, I'm not pregnant. And, I'm still alive and kicking. So I guess it was just energy you get when your lungs can be filled with oxygen!!

You can see by the picture that the hobby room is organized! All the rulers had to be at the same height and I filled in all the nail holes I had left previously. And the material on the shelves is destined for new projects.

This is a quilt I am making for myself from scraps from all my projects so I can sleep under good memories of the people I made quilts for. It is ready to be quilted.

This is part of the quilt I am making for Annie and John. Eventually it will be a king-size quilt so it is being quilted as I go. And though it looks pinkish in the picture, it is beige.

This is another scrap quilt I am making out of two and a half inch squares. The quilt is called Chiclets - I found it on line.

So, for those of you who have let me know you are concerned, I am just fine. Walking Lucilu every morning - thank goodness warm weather is here finally. One of the sayings Vicki sent me recently said - "I like to walk because that's the only time I hear heavy breathing now." So true!

I have been doing the rounds of the doctors - each part of your body has a specialist to see about it. So far we have the heart - still more tests to do, the teeth, the feet, the boobs, the skin, the eyes, and parts unrecognizable!!! So far I'm just fine - "for a woman of a certain age"!!