Generally, this is one of my favorite holidays.  Bill and I have dressed up in fun costumes and “trick or treated” to all of our friends houses.  It gives us a chance to say “hi” to those we don’t see very often and they get a kick out of our good time.  This year we are just tired and decided to stay home, build a nice fire and watch the World Series.  In a way, I feel sad that we aren’t out and about; on the other hand, it feels good to be home in my comfy clothes.

I did prepare a Halloween Haiku…

witches, goblins, ghosts

things that go bump in the night

leaves cover the ground

I have been doing some quilting!  Yeah, finally some quilt content.  I have been working on the Halloween wallhanging for Wendy.  Obviously, it won’t be ready this year but I think she will get it for Christmas.  The top is completed and I started the quilting last night.  Here’s a sneak peek…

My retirement has been interesting, to say the least.  I have spent more than 40 hours a week since the first of the month working at the new Lowes.  Consequently, I’m tired.  Yesterday was the opening day so my schedule should slow down a little.  I was off around noon the last couple of days and I like that. On another note, I have lost 4 or 5 pounds and I like that, too.

Speaking of retirement, I received a couple of very special gifts.  First of all, my daughter contacted several friends and family members and organized purchases of Pandora charms.  I was not aware of this jewelry but here is a link if you want to know more about it.  She asked each participant to write a memory and purchase a charm of their choice.  She made a card out of scrapbooking materials with each memory and attached the corresponding charm to the card.  The four of us went out to dinner and she presented me the gift; all the cards were wrapped and in a little basket, the bracelet was in its box. Many of the cards made me cry as I remembered my friends and relived their memories.  What a wonderful gift.  Thank you, Wendy, for being the thoughtful, creative, loving daughter that you are.

Yesterday after work I was able to meet my best friend, Su for lunch.  I haven’t seen much of her this past month either.  We stayed for a couple of hours catching up and before we left she gave me a handmade basket to celebrate my retirement.  (I keep telling her to stop giving my gifts.)  This little basket was made by a Passamaquoddy Indian woman named Clara *** .  It is signed on the bottom and dated ‘98.  This basket is one of a collection that belongs to Su and the fact that she has passed it on to me makes it an invaluable gift.

That’s all for now.  Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

I understand that it’s winter and this is Maine but come on -26*.  That’s totally colder than cold.  When I went to bed last night is was -11* which I thought was quite out of the ordinary.  For some reason I woke up around 3 AM and thought, “as long as I’m awake, I wonder how cold it is now”.  So, I headed downstairs to check the computer…-20*.  Now, that’s darn cold.  I knew it was going to be cold, but really, -20*.  Then this morning I checked the computer at 8:30 and it was actually -26*.  I’ve had it with winter and it’s only mid January.  On top of the cold it’s going to snow again on Sunday, another 4-7 inches.  Yuck!!!

I was going to meet Su for coffee at our favorite little coffee shop, Aroma Joe’s (or as we call it, AJ’s).  We haven’t seen one another for at least a month because she has been dealing with sick parents.  So I was really looking forward to sitting down with a cup of coffee and a huge coffee roll (Su calls then frisbees) and talking girlie talk.  It was not meant to be.  My car would not start.  I had started it yesterday and let it run for several minutes hoping to keep the battery charged up in the cold weather.  I tried several times, waiting a while inbetween.  Nope, nothing.  Well, not actually nothing, it would turn over but just wouldn’t keep running.

I called Bill in a really grumpy mood and told him what the problem was.  He was just coming home from a 24 hour shift in Cambridge (1 1/2 drive) but would come over as quickly as possible.  It was about 11 when he arrived.   He tried more than once in the freezing cold to jump start my car.  Nope, nothing!  Call for a tow!  Darn it.

The tow truck arrived and packed my little honey off to a nice warm garage to sit and warm up.  The concensus was that the fuel line was frozen but the battery was fine.  Well, I guess that’s one good thing.  Bill and I left in his car for the quilt shop (always make me feel better even though it nearly always costs me money).  The owner had a new boxer puppy and he is so darn cute.  It did allow us to get our “dog fix” since we aren’t in a position to have a dog.  We had lunch at the Third Alarm Diner, ran some errands, went to Bill’s so he could finally shower and clean up.  We talked ourselves out of the gym.  Bad People, bad people.

The garage called (actually the mechanic called) and said my car was all warm and running like a charm, only $152 later.  At least the tow charge will be reimbursed by AAA.  We picked her up, made a stop at WalMart and returned to Bill’s where I cooked dinner for a change…stuffed peppers and fruit salad.  I headed home with Bills car (mine stayed in the garage at his house as the temps were going to be below zero again) around 7:30 and found no electricity in the little burg of Springvale.  Great, I need to get my stuff ready for work tomorrow.  I lit the oil lamp, got everything packed and was nearly ready to return to Bill’s when the power returned.  Yeah.  I would much rather sleep in my own bed when I have to get up at 5 to go to work.  Actually, I would rather sleep in my own bed all the time but that doesn’t usually  happen.

No cutting fabric or sewing tonight.  I read for a little while…Eldest by Christopher Paolini before heading to bed.  It’s a fantasy, sci-fi about dragons, elves and such. This is book 2 in the trilogy.

I was thinking about all of the things I’m thankful for this holiday…

My new granddaughter, Ella; being together with both of my children at the same time; my best friend Su is home from the hospital after nearly three weeks; the weather has been warm; the wonderful meal we had at David and Paula’s; safe travel for myself, Bill and the rest of my family; good health; enough money to pay the bills and play a little; fuel for my heater.  I could go on but I have so much to be thankful for that it would take up way too much space.

Greg, Vanessa and Ella traveled to Maine for this holiday.  They stayed two nights at D&P’s, then spent Friday night with me.  We had a good time and really enjoyed watching Ella’s new “trick”, rolling over.  She loves to eat and opens her mouth wide, just like a baby bird.

They left before lunch on Saturday so Bill and I did some Black Friday shopping.  We were glad to see the parking lots were full but not overflowing and the stores we went to weren’t jammed.  It was a good holiday weekend; time spent with family and time together.

On a sewing note…I finished a small gift bag for my MQResource Secret Sister.

Other than that, I haven’t had any time to sit at home and sew.  I need several uninterrupted hours to work on the background of the butterfly wallhanging if I expect to get it finished by Christmas (it was started for last Christmas).

Unfortunately, my bestest, closest girlfriend is still in the hospital.  I had not seen her since last week and I think she is looking worse.  She is so pale and thin!  She is constantly nauseous and vomiting although she isn’t eating anything.  She says that her stomach is absorbing the medications she is taking (IV antibiotics and assorted others) and that is all she has to vomit.  She doesn’t really get much support from her husband, sister or children.  I feel so sorry for her and wish there was something I could do to make her feel better but I know that there is nothing.  All I can do is be there for her, send prayers and Reiki.  Today I visited for a couple of hours and gave her a nice, long foot rub.  She said it felt good and was very relaxing.

Feel Better Su!

It seems that the more I want to sew and craft, the less time I have to do so. Today, however, I spent most of the afternoon and evening doing just that. I spent quite a bit of time finishing my bargello Christmas tree that was started in a class at Kathie’s Quilt Shoppe. All it really needed was crystals and glitter. I used super glue to attach the crystals. After that I applied glitter to the edges of the tree. I have been putting off the glitter session because I make such a mess with the stuff. I end up wearing more than I apply but today went pretty well. The weather was good so I was able to stand outside and shake it off when I was finished.

These photos didn’t come out very well but you get the picture (no pun intended).

I also took the time to cut some fabric for a gift for my Secret Sister from the MQResource forum, as well as a continuing project for my son. Now I’m anxious to start my SS project but have no idea when I will get to sit down and sew again.

Although the lawn care guys came and cleaned up the leaves, you would never know it by looking out my kitchen window. I live in a condo so I don’t HAVE to do yard work or gardening unless I choose to. However, I’m going to have to get out soon and clean up the rest of the leaves so I can put up the snow fence that I use to keep the snowmobilers from traveling across my front lawn! I hope that Bill and I can work on that tomorrow before it starts to rain.

I have spent much of the past several weeks in the hospital visiting my best friend Su. She has had a very difficult time and has been an extremely sick woman. Last week she was transferred from our community hospital to Maine Medical Center where she could get more specialized care. Thankfully, she is doing better each day (baby steps) and hopefully she will be coming home soon.

I have also been practicing at least once a week for the “Let’s Dance With The Stars” community fundraiser which takes place Saturday night. My partner, Peter, and I will be doing a fox trot to a Marilyn Monroe song. There are eight couples vying for the first place prize, which remains a secret. To date there have been over 350 tickets sold. It should be fun although I’m getting a little nervous. The routine is only 1 1/2 minutes long, how bad can it be? I’ll post the results next week and maybe some pictures.

Happy Halloween!  This is one of my favorite holidays.  Bill and I have dressed up for the past several years and gone visiting to our friends’ houses.  They were quite saddened this year when I told them I was working.  Boo hoo.  A couple of years we even went dancing and won first place in the costume contest (certainly not in any dancing contest).  Next year…I’ll be RETIRED!  That’s right, not working at the fire department any more.  I visited the retirement office in Augusta earlier this week.  They were able to answer all of my questions and give me an estimate of the monthly amount I will be receiving.  Time will tell whether or not I will still have to work and how often.  It will depend on how much is taken out to cover taxes and insurance.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

On a good note…my friend Su has finally returned home after 10 days in the hospital.  The news about her health was All Good.  I am very thankful that she is home and on the mend.

I was able to get a little more background quilting done on the butterfly wallhanging.  I had a gift certificate from Keepsake Quilting and I spent it on a Halloween pattern and a fabric pack, even though I haven’t finished the wool wallhanging that I started after last Halloween.  It isn’t finished but it’s hung on the wall anyway.

This was a beautiful weather week.  Temps were in the mid 60’s and Bill and I were able to ride our bikes and sit in the sun.  It always feels soooo good.  On Sunday we rode 14 miles from Bill’s house to the Dunkin Donuts in No. Berwick.  We checked out a craft shop but didn’t find anything we really needed to take home with us.  From there we rode back on Rt. 4 to Bill’s house.  It was a spectacular day and we felt blessed to be outside in October feeling the warmth of the sun.  Not only that, we are blessed to be healthy enough to exercise on a semi-regular basis (as time allows).  We spent another day with Bill picking up leaves with the tractor and I cleaned up the gardens.

On the down side, my best friend, Su has spent the week in the hospital after surgery.  She is doing well but isn’t expected to return home for another couple of days.  She has suffered serious illness for the past several years and this is another bump in the road.  I am considerably blessed with good health, even though I’m approaching 60 (yikes) which is the opposite of Su.  I am always supportive and attempt to help her fend off the overwhelming depression that accompanies another health problem.  I am also blessed to have Su as my best friend.  She is such a wonderful person and I consider her my soulmate.  It is difficult to understand why she is faced with illness over and over again.  I pray that this time the final news is positive and she can look forward to some good years ahead.

On the quilting front, not much time to sew; however, I have been doing some background stitching on the butterfly picture.  I am using a technique from Diane Guadynski which she has termed Diane-shiko.  It isn’t difficult but time consuming.  After 5-6 hours I have completed maybe 1/4 of the background.  ti doesn’t really matter, this wallhanging was for Greg and Vanessa last Christmas.  As they say…better late than never.

I also did a some border quilting on the red oriental flower wallhanging.  I stitched a flower in variegated black and white thread.  I still can’t get the hang of doing it without a pattern so I have traced the flower on tracing paper and use that to follow.  The down side is taking all of the paper off when I’m done.

Two other good things happened this week, I listed my condo for sale and Bill and I finished my sewing room at his house.  We painted the ceiling and I chose a very light blue for the walls.  Bill pulled up the carpet and put down a laminate wood floor.  It looks so nice, clean and bright.  I still need to decide on curtains and blinds but I bought a new 6′ sewing table and it is set up in front of the window.  We moved a small bookshelf from my house.  It is holding fabric right now but will eventually hold children’s books and toys for the grandkids.

Most of the people that know me would tell you I am a pessimist and have a negative attitude. I can’t argue with that. I’m not sure when or how it started but the last several years have been very negative ones. I’m not unhappy. I have been divorced since 2000 and have been quite content. I’m healthy, have a job that pays the bills, enjoy two grown children and a new granddaughter. I have a partner that is more than generous and loves me way more than I deserve. Yet I fight with a negative attitude more often than I would like.

However, I am aware of this fault and have been making a serious effort to turn myself into a positive person and one that others want to spend time with. I meditate and do Reiki in an attempt to attract and accept positive energy and attitudes and release and let go of the negative energy that seems to exist within me. Unfortunately, today is a very negative day.

I think it started with the fact that I will spend a significant portion of my savings to put K-1 fuel into my tank for the winter heating season at a cost of $4.48 a gallon. In April I bought 100 gallons at $3.99 which used up all of the money that I had set aside for that purpose. I didn’t fill up then because I thought the price would drop once the heating season was over and summer arrived. I was wrong. My tank is 275 gallons and although I’m not sure just how much I will need to fill the tank, it will be near 200 gallons.

I’m discouraged, angry and quite frankly, scared. While I set aside $20 every week for gasoline, I’m using that and more every week. What happens next year when I actually don’t have the money in my account to buy winter fuel?

On top of that, the weather report for this week suggests that it will be near 60* on Wednesday with rain. However, over the weekend when I’m scheduled to work, it is predicted to be sunny and in the 80’s. It never fails (that would be the negative attitude rearing its ugly head) that my four days off don’t have great weather and the best weather of the week is on the days I’m working. I spend the entire winter waiting for summer, then work on many of the best days. It has been a cool spring, lasting into June and I fear that it will be one of those summers that just never gets started and is over before it begins.

On a positive note, I got a lot done today. First of all, I had coffee with Su, having not seen her for more than three weeks. She is battling severe depression and I wish there was something I could to help. I ran errands, did some work in my checkbook, paid some bills, sent some birthday and encouragement cards and got some of the plants I took from Bill’s into the ground. I spent some time raking up all of the “tree debris” that continues to fall everywhere! It covers the gardens, the patio, the plants, everything. It’s disgusting to say the least. On top of the mess it makes, it stains the patio pavers. This is the second time I have raked and it won’t be the last. I ended up with a pile that was at least 3′ square. I wanted to take a picture but was so anxious to get it all picked up I totally forgot. I watered the gardens and had 20 minutes left to sit in the sun before getting ready for work.

Maybe I just needed to get that out of my system. Each night I take the time to list at least five things for which I’m thankful. I never have trouble filling the list. I complained today about things that don’t really matter so why do I get so angry and negative? I don’t have an answer but I will continue to work on being positive and it appears that I have a lot of work to do.

How many times can a person say WOW! in one day? That was the question that came to mind last night after a day at MQX (machine quilters expo). This is a quilt show in Manchester, NH that highlights machine quilters and their creations. Su and I spent several hours wandering through spectacular quilts exclaiming WOW after every new turn. We also got to see many of the entries in this year’s $100,000 Quilting Challenge. WOW!! It amazes me the creative ideas and workmanship that exist around me (even if it’s not right in my backyard).

Every brand of quilting machine was exhibited as well. Although I yearn for one of these machines, there wasn’t much point in spending time trying each machine or asking a million questions when it’s just not in the cards right now. When I can afford one and have the space for one, I’ll go shopping for one. In the meantime I will just envy the work that is done on one.

I had a wonderful time spending the day with Su. She did very well considering the number of “spoons” it took for her to walk around for several hours. I know she will pay for it today and maybe into tomorrow. It always amazes me how well she copes with her illness; she compensates very well. I wonder how well I would handle the situation if the cards had been reversed and I was the one that was chronically ill. I fear that I would not be nearly as strong a person. I admire her. I know that her time is precious and I’m so grateful that she allowed me to share some of it with her.

I heard from Wendy that Vanessa was home. From what I understand she is staying downstairs in the living room because that is where she can watch the TV. Wendy said that Greg is going to work from home for four days. It should be interesting since Vanessa is not supposed to get up except to use the bathroom or take a quick shower. Everything she needs will have to be provided by Greg. It will be an extended stressful time for each of them.

Wendy went to the baby shower for Ryan today. He is the baby she made the quilt for. Jen and her husband were very appreciative of the quilt and said that it will match Ryan’s bedroom which is blue with stars.

I was able to finish up the “Birthday Quilt” today. Su gave it to me for my birthday about three years ago. Although it is actually a wallhanging and it took me a short amount of time to piece it, I have been using it to practice my free motion quilting. I did some outline stitching in the flower area, some stitch-in-the-ditch, some stippling (which is my downfall) some free-motion outlining of the leaves and some “squiggly squares” in the outside border. Sue N. saw it while I was working on it today and really liked it. She mentioned that I could always give it to her. Soooo, that’s exactly what I will do on her next birthday. That makes it truly the “Birthday Quilt”.

I did manage to meet Bill at the gym after work for 30 minutes on the cardio machines.

Yesterday was a day to spend time with some girlfriends. Su and I had breakfast at Aroma Joe’s (aka AJ’s) coffeehouse. Breakfast usually consists of a coffee roll or scone and coffee. It gives us a chance to share what’s been happening in our lives. We try to meet at least once a week but that doesn’t always happen. We can truly be ourselves with each other, sharing our deepest thoughts, hopes and fears, never worrying that it will go any further. There is never concern over whether we will be considered foolish or weak in some way.

Su is my closest friend in Maine. She lived across the street from me when I moved to the rural area of Shapleigh in 1980. Coming from the Denver area, it was quite a shock to me to live where there were only three other houses on the street that I could see. It was dark and quiet and it creeped me out for quite some time.

Anyway, Su and her husband lived across the street with two boys, Mike and Jamie. They were about the same age as Greg, one older and one younger. Su and I became fast friends right away. As it turned out, we divorced our husbands within months of each other. I’m not sure how either of us would have made it through the “crazy time” without one other. As close as we had been, we grew even closer to the point of feeling more like sisters than friends.

Su is my mentor. She was sewing a long time before I started and is extremely creative. She has always been there for me to bounce questions and ideas around with. She is a great cheerleader, always telling me I’m doing well and believing in me even when I don’t believe in myself.

Su was diagnosed with leukemia in November 2006. She takes numerous medications but is holding steady. What would I do without her?

From there I met Deb at her house and we took a trip to Keepsake Quilting. It is an amazing quilting shop in Center Harbor, NH with what must be thousands of bolts of fabric, notions, patterns…the whole nine yards. (no pun intended) I did very well and came home with only 1/2 yard of Funky Monkey fabric for the lap quilt I want to make for Greg and a red fat quarter for the Christmas package wallhanging. I also picked up a small hangar (7″) for the purple piece I made for Wendy’s bathroom.

We didn’t spend as much time there as either of us would have liked because I had a spinning class at the gym at 5:15. We stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite and were back to her house by 4:00.

Deb and I met one another shortly after we both became single. We were taking line dance lessons in South Sanford and hit it off right away. We continued to line dance and also started taking ballroom dancing lessons in Portland. We joked that we danced every night of the week except Sunday, which was date night. That was funny because neither of us ever had a date! We would have danced seven nights a week if possible.  Deb and I shared a “pinky-swear” that no man would ever enter our lives and come between us.  I think she held the promise better than I did.

Su and Deb have both remarried since our single days in the early 2000’s. They are both happy but truthfully, I believe that Bill is by far the nicest, most polite and caring man of the three…John, Marc and Bill. I, however, remain single, by choice.

Today I picked up my granddaughter’s quilt from Georgette. She said it was a beautiful quilt which I considered quite a compliment. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. The quilting pattern is rosy posy and I think it worked up very nicely. Hopefully tomorrow I will get the binding sewn on and maybe have the handwork done by Greg’s visit on the 15th. They are predicting up to another foot of snow tomorrow and Bill is working so I should be able to sew the entire day. I always say that and it’s 2 or 3 in the afternoon before I manage to sit at the machine. I’m going to make an effort tomorrow to spend most of the day sewing. I think I’ll get out the sunlight and light up my sewing area. Maybe that will push away the “snowing again blues”.