Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I need some Geritol

I am so tired right now I need some Geritol. It will be interesting to see if anyone even knows/remembers what Geritol is or if they still make it.

I hate not being able to find things in my house. It is happening a lot lately. It is scary.

On a brighter note, plans are zooming along for the upcoming visit to Cleveland. I have a blueberry pie on hold at Giant that I will pick up after work. The meals planned so far are lobster and steak for the anniversary dinner, salmon patties and spaghetti and meatballs for the other nights. We'll have salad, fresh warmed bread, applesauce, and all the other goodies that go along with those meals. I bought them a "tower of chocolate" collection from Harry and David for a little present, and they will enjoy opening all the different boxes of stuff.

I'm going to bed now, nighty night.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sadness and Sunshine

Today, in Eugene, OR, the unveiling of the headstone for my mother-in-law, Gloria, took place. In Judaism, this ceremony usually occurs 11 months after a person's death. It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since her passing, that her house was broken down, and that other people are living there. I wish I could have gone to support my sisters-in-law, but to be honest, I really don't ever want to be in Eugene again. I did promise Jude I would come when the boys are Bar Mitzvah, but I don't want the years of good memories to be marred by trips that will not produce those kinds of memories.

Instead, to honor her memory, Lou and I planted 40+ bulbs today. She always loved flowers, her beds beautifully planned and tended. Though we tend to have a "wilder" look to our beds than she preferred, the daffs will come up next spring and sway in the breeze and perfume the air drifting into the house, and I will think of her and how much she meant to me. She actually told Zelda that I was more stubborn than she was. I'm not sure that's true, we never really went head to head on things. When she visited, we did things her way. When she wasn't around, we did things our way. She was definitely an "Ashet Chiyel", a woman of valor, and I will miss her.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Tiles down, swap to go


Here is the picture of my italian tile blocks for Shelly, the second of our online quilting bee group. This is the "third time's a charm" for me; I had to do them 3 times before they came out close enough to "right" for me to send along. It's the most involved block I've done to date, and sewing on the bias in a quilt block is not something I have mastered yet. Tara suggested starching the material before sewing, and I did read about that after I'd done the blocks. But, I think they are okay.

Tomorrow I plan on getting the laundry caught up and sewing my passionately pink breast cancer awareness month swap apron. My partner wants something full and functional, and I've decided to make a reversible bib apron with pockets along the bottom edge-very functional I think. I've got a few add-ins related to awareness, and then it'll be off into the mail.

After this, I think I'll "retire" from the swap trade for a while and work on holiday gifts for family and friends. I'll be doing a lot of aprons and coasters, maybe mitts, and hopefully the little microwave mitts kathleen was talking about. I've made some good progress on Will's blanket, and I'm waiting for color confirmation from Kathleen to start on Johnny's quilt.

Tonight, a nice steak dinner and then baseball. My life is so good.....

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Halloween, received and on its way





So, you saw it o
n the mannequin, now you see it on the girl-child! I'm not sure how she took this picture of herself, but you get the gist of how the outfit looks. Best part-there may be a party from some folks in her department who are Dr. Who fans, and they will know immediately what she is. Life is good!

lou and I had a great time in Providence over the weekend with our Redhead. It was butt-cold, but we survived! Here is KS at the game, Brown beat Princeton, and her grandfather saw her on national television.... can you tell it is cold? and the only thing I cut off was the top of her hat, but she sure looks cute, huh? And we ate lots of really good sushi with the kids.



Then, I finally got the Halloween spook and rattle swap apron package for Val finished and packed up for mailing tomorrow. I had to put it aside to get Lill's costume done, but she understood because the same thing has happened to her. So, I'll send it out priority tomorrow and she'll have it before Halloween. She did say she likes a party, so that's what she is getting. The picture is kind of screwed up colorwise-the satin is purple and the overlays are sheer black with embossed spiderwebs and spiders, and multicolored sequins. Val didn't want the standard orange and black-already has it in her Halloween wardrobe. Then, I got her a black tablecloth, a ceiling spider hang-down like the one I use on the front porch, a centerpiece for her table, a swag to put around her door, and two sweet little tealight holders with purple insides. There are a few spiderwebs to spread in purple and black-going with the color scheme here-and I threw in some jelly beans to enjoy while she's planning her party. I hope she takes a picture with the apron on because it's so cute--three layers of swirls. I like this pattern a lot and will probably use it more often, with various treatments.

While we were up north, Saskia came and got the rest of her stuff from the yellow room. This weekend I hope to rearrange the furniture in the room so we can bring in the bargain oak table we got, and have a good surface for my cutting board. Then, I plan on sewing!! lots and lots of sewing, though right now I'm working on a knitted baby blanket for the latest addition on the Neufeld side, William Fletcher Matthews, known as Will. he will probably get the blanket before the sweater is done, and with any luck I will finish the blanket for Lily (big sis who has her sweater) before she graduates from high school......she is about 18 months now, so I have a fighting chance.

We have had a few spectacular fall afternoons, perfect top down weather, which I took advantage of. We also scored some seeds and cuttings from Japanese maples in the neighborhood, and hopefully over the course of the winter, with his new growlight arrangement, Lou will get some started to bonzai. It should be fun, and that's an important part of everything, right?



Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Halloween is on it's way West-don't look Lill!


After a few days of nonstop, drop everything else sewing, I have finished Lilli's Halloween costume. It is packed and ready to mail tomorrow. Here is the picture. It's actually pretty ingenious as the top and outer skirt are one piece, and the lavender is a pull-on underskirt with a crinoline slip attached at the waist. Usually I take pictures of the girls in their costumes in front of the fireplace by the french doors, but since Lill isn't here, it had to be on Dolly the dressform.

Unfortunately, because we are going to Providence on Thursday I won't be able to get Val's apron finished and into the mail on Saturday. I will have it out on Tuesday, but I hate getting my timing jammed like this; having company is wonderful but it can mess with your schedule (enough said).

Other news of the day, I have two orders for holiday aprons. I will be meeting with the client (does that sound cool or what?) next week to find out what she wants. I emailed some pictures of my work, and she liked it. I'm jazzed!

I've cut the next quilt blocks out in larger squares, and will start round 2 next week when we're back from Providence. Of course, the Redhead realized last Saturday that Halloween is only 3 weeks away, and she's not sure what costume she wants to wear this year. I sent her a bunch of pattern numbers to look at and maybe she'll find something she likes, if not, she's going to have to wing it.

NEWS FLASH: We met with the plastic surgeon today and he is completely satisfied with my progress and doesn't want to see me until NEXT YEAR! we are celebrating! LIfe is good. A nod to my friend Corey at work who ran as part of a team in a marathon to raise funds for breast cancer-and he wore my name on his number. I am really blessed in the family and friends dept. So, now that I have my life back, we probably won't be having many discussions about my journey. The last leg is the tattooing, and I'm still not sure I want to do; it's bad enough I can't give blood for 2 years because of the surgery, I don't want to mess it up by having a tat. I'll have to call NIH and ask about it.

Last Thursday was my guild meeting, and the program was on beading. This is a craft I have never delved into deeply, and I can tell that is about to change. Judy Shapiro, a local artist, was the presenter, and I am hooked. We are doing these really cool pomegranate pins. She does some amazing jewelry. I like to think I have some skill, but these women I'm meeting are amazing.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Time flies

time has a habit of getting away from me. there are so many things I wanted to get done this week, and I've been doing all kinds of things but those on my list. Hopefully, tomorrow will be the day I can cross things off my list.

I am having a little trouble with this month's quilting bee block. I tried really hard to keep all the seams at 1/4 inch, but my finished block is a little off, and once trimmed it's not going to be 6 1/2 in. I'm not sure what I did wrong. So, I'm going to try the other two blocks that are ready to sew, then see what they measure. Some others have cut their starting blocks larger, but I don't understand how that will help-I just don't know enough about blocks yet.

I have basically nothing new to take to the Guild meeting tomorrow. I have one coaster; not even a full set.

Once I get back from the meeting tomorrow, I'm hoping to have a marathon session with the sewing machine. I have missed it, but I'm not sure what I've been so busy doing, it's just been a weird week.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Dear Jane news flash!

I don't know how I missed it over at Apron Goddesses, but the current giveaway is a sweet apron from Dear Jane, at http://www.dear-jane.com. Oh, now I know, it was posted on the 28th, erev Yom Kippur, so I wasn't on the computer........

go look, go buy, support independent craft women!

One great weekend

This had been one great weekend. On Friday I did errands and got the lawn mowed-before the rains came. Finally, I beat Mother Nature for once. Saturday I did laundry, cut out the rest of Lillian's costume, cut out the new blocks for the quilting bee, and washed the floors. Today I got a haircut-still short because we continue to have top down weather-and then took a walk with Vera. This time her daughter came along and we went to the track up at the high school. We walked and talked for a little over a mile, and the sunshine kid probably did about a mile and a half on her bike. Not bad for a kid in the "doghouse"-she didn't do her homework yesterday as requested and has lost some privileges...I am so glad those days are behind me.

Lou and I mounted the brackets for the plant light fixtures over the bay window and will let the one hang for a few days to decide if we like the height. We needed to get plant lights up here because when we bring in the more fragile plants for the winter, they don't really get enough light because of the blocking film on the windows. The poor pomegranate usually looks like it died; and I really don't want that to happen.

Yesterday I read about a really interesting non-profit that has set a goal (for October) of delivering 400 quilts to homeless children. I wish I could help, but I have too many projects for October already. There is Lill's costume, my Halloween swap, the flirty and sassy support breast cancer awareness swap, Lill's lap quilt, the baby quilts for Jamie's and Anna's new born baby boys and of course my aprons that I want to start getting finished. Ah, it's good to have a list, and hopefully I will get things crossed off it in a timely manner.

I'm looking forward to a busy week and weekend, then on the 15th we'll go up to Providence to visit Sarah for Parents' Weekend. The band highlights seniors at the football game-scary thought if you know anything about the Brown Band..... but it will be fun to have lunch with Aunt Zelda and Uncle Ed, and to hang out with the KS.

We hope to go into Cleveland for Halloween weekend just to visit, and then we'll be needing to think about Thanksgiving. We've invited Si and Peg to come here-he's got a bazillion frequent flyer miles and could come before and leave after the blackout dates. So, we'll see how that goes.

Then we'll have December when Lillian will be home for a few weeks, maybe KS, too if she's not too deep into research, and that's always fun. We'll try and go to Cleveland for Si's birthday-the Big 8-6, ya know....

I love this time of year-all the color, the breezes, thoughts of my kids being around. Life doesn't get much better than this!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Clarification

Dear sweet daughter,
I am not talking about the Pilsbury or Duncan Hines cans that have been around for years. I am talking about a new kind that has a decorator tip that you can shoot directly into your mouth-it looks like a skinny whipped cream can. It's a good thing I don't need to decorate any cakes.....I love you, now do your work and go to bed!