Get ready for Christmas

Tea Rose Home giveaway

Isn’t this the cutest little Christmas stitchery?  The whole kit can be yours.  Just check out the Tea Rose Home blog and leave a comment.  Maybe this little bit of the holidays will come home to you.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

Finally, quilty news

It seems like it has been forever since I did any sewing/quilting.  But…it’s getting closer.  Here’s how the room looked after getting everything moved to Bill’s house…

Sewing room "before"

Here’s how it looked the other day when it was pouring rain and I moved everything out in order to start over.

Of course, I didn’t take a picture of what the bedroom looked like after I cleaned out the sewing room.

And, voila, here it is after I got everything moved back in.

Ready, set, sew

Now that’s it is back together, I will get some work done on the monkey quilt for Greg.  I got the binding ready to apply…a continuous striped binding.

striped binding

On another note, I received this beautiful half yard of fabric from Sue at Featherstone Quiltworks.

beautiful snowflake fabric

Check out the awesome selvage!  The color is a little off; it’s really a much deeper red and oh sooo soft.

Sue thought July 4 was pretty slow in blogland and offered fabric to the first people to comment on the day’s blog.  She has a great blog so stop by and give her a visit.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

Check out another giveaway

Talk about a giveaway!  Judi at Green Fairy Quilts has a BIG giveaway going on.  The wonderful gifts include a quilt, a bag, a pattern and a jelly roll.  Be sure to check it out.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

Giveaway at Two Creative Studios

Terri and Sue are having a great giveaway and here’s what you can “win”…

Prize #1: A free online class of your choice.  Choose any online or class on demand class we offer at Two Creative Studios.

Prize #2: A goody package of Terri and Sue’s hand dyed fabrics.

Prize #3: A goody package of a book from Sue and a Giclee Art print from Terri.

Go to their newsletter sign up page here and check out their blog here.

Hopefully I will have some quilty news later today.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

I treated myself

I have been threatening for several weeks months to get a pedicure.  Since I sold my condo and had a little extra in my purse, I finally broke down and got it done.  It feels sooooo good and they look great.  Even though the weather has been cold and wet I have been wearing my sandals just to show off my toes.  What a dork.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

Baby chickadees update

The birds are growing fast…

chickadees 7.3.09

It’s a little difficult to get the door open and get a good photo.  I think there are 6 of them.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

My last parade

I have been making entries to keep track of the last time I do things at work before I retire.  Today I drove in the Fourth of July parade for the last time.  After weeks of rain, today dawned partly cloudy and dry.  There was a slight breeze and it felt good to get outside and soak up some Vitamin D for a change.  The parade started at 10 and moved from one end of Main Street to a park in the center of town.  The street was lined with tons of people, probably just happy to get outside without boots and coats in July.  Everyone smiles and waves.  Small town America at it’s best.

My Captain made a statement that made me realize how lucky I am to have my job in the fire service.  “If you drove a bread truck or a UPS truck or a gasoline tanker, would people line the streets and wait to see you so they could yell “hello” or wave?”  Probably not.  That actually brought a tear to my eye, making me realize how much I will miss my job when I leave.  I forget that sometimes and just get caught up in counting down the days (74 to be exact).  I am an incredibly lucky woman.  There aren’t that many people that get to drive a fire truck and get paid, let alone a woman.  People talk to their children, point and say “look, a woman is driving that truck”.  It makes me feel especially good when they are pointing that out to their little girls.  Hopefully that plants the seed that they can REALLY do anything they want when they grow up.

Here are a few other “lasts” that have taken place recently…actually, these were not only the last time but the first time, too.

I went to the air show at the local airport.  This was the 9th year but I had never attended before, either on duty or off.

I went to a call for water in the cellar.  When we arrived, there was an elderly woman flagging us down, clearly very upset.  As we parked the truck, she started waving and running to the back of the house.  Now, normally when that occurs, we go to the back of the house to find water running out the cellar steps or we look down the stairs and see 3 or 4 feet of water in the cellar.

When we got to the back of the house, there was no water.  I figured it must be farther into the cellar.  After following the distraught woman deep into the cellar, there still was no standing water.  What the heck?  She finally pointed to a wet spot on the floor, maybe the size of a saucer.  It wasn’t standing water, just a damp area.  Her upstairs toilet was running and the condensation had collected on the pipes and dripped onto the floor.  This was the first and last time I will respond to a call for water in the cellar only to find no water in the cellar.

The number of days continues to get shorter and although I’m ready to go, I have to admit, it is going to be harder than I thought.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

ARGH!!!

July 1…long pants, shoes and socks, rain coat or fleece jacket, 57*…RAIN!  Enough said.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

List of 99

I saw this list on Nellie’s blog and thought I would be fun to post it on mine.  It will give you a little look into my life…

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb a lot of other farm animal babies (even delivered a litter of piglets)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (even a moon set)
31. Hit a home run (broom ball count?)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (awesome!)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (as long as there’s enough for a few fat quarters then I’m happy)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain (and the snow)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (been on TV)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check/cheque (oops)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (those of my children)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle,
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88.Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

……………………………………

That was fun! Here are the rules for you to play, too:

Copy and paste the above list.

Bold or lighten the things you’ve done in your edit box.  I could not get this to work so I opted to cross out the ones I had not done.

Post on your blog!

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

Baby birds

Bill made a couple of bluebird boxes earlier this year and we “planted” them next to the grass in the rear of the house.  There wasn’t much interest for awhile but finally the chickadees took note of one of them and started spending lots of time going in and out, in and out.

Bill really thought they were nesting.  I have had experience with bluebirds, swallows and wrens, but never chickadees.  I peeked into the box the other day and found these…

baby chickadees 6.25.09

I’m not sure how many there are but I’m guessing 5 or 6.  I don’t think they were very old; born within the last week I’m pretty sure.  I’ll try to check again next week and post an update.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)