What is the point, anyway?

I cruise around the internet every day to read what others are thinking, making and changing. The blogs that interest me the most are the ones where the writer is trying to make sense of her life by finding what is important and making that the focus of her life changes.
There are blogs about personal finances, homemaking, crafts and so on. I love them all and am inspired by all the insight and accomplishments for the writers. There is so much wisdom to be gained from all these writings. I know there are many others who share my fascination with these blogs from the comments that they leave the other bloggers. But lately, there have been some changes in some of the blogs I have been reading for months, even years. Seems that there is some kind of competition as to who is the hippest, most creative or worst of all, the most enlightened. The mood has changed from friendly sharing and open communication to shameless self promotion and even ridicule of other bloggers who aren't so very self-actualized as the ones writing.
I didn't start this blog to compete with anyone. I am not the most productive, artsy or accomplished gal in blogdom. I just wanted to record pictures and thoughts and share them with whomever comes this way. Focusing on the path ahead makes more sense to me than judging the path of someone else.
Maybe it is time to clean up my list of favorites and look for some new, fresh and upbeat writers.
Wishing you a beautiful day and a sunny tomorrow.

Good Night Miss Daisy

Tonight about dinnertime, my dog-buddy Daisy died. She had been suffering from dementia for about 16 months, becomming progressively worse in tiny,tiny steps. She became lost in the house where we have lived for the last 12 years, fell down the steps, lost interest in toys and being petted. She never seemed to be in pain, but her tail stopped wagging and she slept a lot.

I knew she wouldn't be with us much longer, so I made her a red and white quilt for the cold winter nights. Here she is resting under the quilt.

On Monday it appeared that she had a stroke. She couldn't stand up without being held and gave up eating and drinking.

We all checked on her just before sitting down for dinner tonight and made sure she was warm and as comfortable as we could make her. Terry and I were going to make a quick run to the store after dinner, but as we got in the truck, David flagged us down to get us to come back in the house. Daisy had died during dinner.

Daisy will be buried in her special quilt tomorrow.

We sure will miss her.

A New Year

Those New Years just keep coming around faster every time. I guess that is just the way it is as we get older. I have drifted with the current the last few years and let things take their own course. Not so this New Year. I wrestled Terry down on Saturday to take a look at our futures together. Health, money, careers and a lot more. We weren't as far apart on our goals as I had feared. He would like to see me more organized and I would like him to take his health more seriously. We have pledged to help each other and make a difference in 2010.
I would like to move further down that road to making life simpler, more home centered and he just doesn't get it, but we will figure it all out.
It will be interesting to take stock again next year and see just what progress we have made.
I wish you a peaceful, simple and healthy New Year.

A-Thrifting We Will Go

I have been pretty successful in the last few months in curbing my comsumerism, but I know that I will never be able to just cut it off. I will continue to buy new running shoes and underwear, period. Some things are just too icky to imagine.

While crawling through one of the local thrift sotres, I found something that was meant just for me. I always look at the fabric orphans and often find some great vintage items, but boy did I hit the motherlode this time.

The bag looked like a hodge podge of homely old fabrics, some sewn together. I figured it was part of a quilt top, but since you can't open the bags to get a better look, I went on instinct and just bought the bag for $5.98.

Here is what I found:

2 vintage quilt tops

pieced backings for same

material for the binding

some creepy yellow spandex junk

a sizeable piece of green velvet

Since I have a longarm quilting machine, I will easily turn those tops into real quilts. The velvet will go to someone who likes to do crazy quilts (not me). And that spandex stuff will go back in my next donation bag to the thrift store! No waste and a couple of happy quilters.

I still have not figured out the picture situation. Will have to consult my resident computer guru and husband later.

Sweat and Pillowcases

Just in case you are thinking that this is going to be an adult rated post, I assure that is rated for the entire family.

As Halloween approaches, I can just feel my little step-grands winding up for the candy grabathon. J is nine and A is 3+. They are about as excitable a pair of little boys as you have ever met and just as cute. (No prejudice here). Since we are in Virginia and they are in Indiana, we rarely see them. I'm not really sure that they understand that I am married to their grandfather and how that all works. Anyway, I took on the project of sending them pillowcases for the major holidays. I figure that if they associate my name with something fun, that we will have some kind of positive relationship eventually. I had intended to get all the holidays covered in one year, but some of them slipped past me. The road to hell is filled with unmade pillowcases, apparently.

Unlike the 4th of July (the flag and fireworks fabric is still lounging in my sewing room) the Halloween fabric is now real pillowcases that are ready for the post office today and just in time to help with the wind-em-up for the sugar overdose on the 31st.

The sweat part of this post is completely unrelated to the pillowcases except that it happened this weekend, too.

For the first 56 years of my life, I believed that I would only sweat if the air conditioning went on the fritz. I can truly say that I have not had the pleasure of having water run out of my hair except in the shower. I have never been exactly what you might describe as an athlete. I was the kid who was picked last for the kickball team and would not have been picked at all if the other girls had a choice.

I started feeling really stiff and having lots of pain in my joints. I thought I might have some sort of arthritis or some other old people disease, but I just wasn't content to let it get any worse.

I read in the local recreation center publication that they were having a boot camp type exercise program outdoors in our new City Center. Sounded interesting, right? NO?? I signed up in April and put on my tennies.

Anyway, I figured I would either get in shape or go out in a flame. The flame looked really promising for the first ten weeks. Than I started actually getting better at the exercises and could run more than a half a block.

Never one for half measures, I entered a 5k run sponsored by the local shipyard for employees and family members this weekend. My daughter (the employee) and her husband also ran. It felt so good to be there with them.

Oh yeah, I am still not an athlete, but I finished the run with a time of 31 minutes 10 seconds. Not bad for an old gal. This gives me (limited) bragging rights. Everyone who finished recieved a medal, and here is mine!

If anyone is reading this and knows how to get those blasted pictures to go anywhere but at the top of the post, would you PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!!! Thank you.

Plethora of Pumpkins--- That's a lot

I was temporarily sidetracked from my pumpkin blocks by the shower for my friend's daughter yesterday. It was a lot of fun and the house is cleaner than it has been in a long, long time. I wish I had taken pictures, but I was too busy cooking and making sure everyone had a good time.

So last night I finished the 40 pumpkin blocks. I even squared them up. I can't wait to put them together in a quilt top.

Here's a sneak peak.

Me Time........Finally

What with working with my husband (pays the bills), and doing the longarm quilting for the quilt shop (pays for my habits) and working in the bead shop (only rarely, but it is so much fun), there isn't much time for me to do the things I really love. Namely quilting and making jewelry.

So in the last few days, I caught up on the longarm business, put away the beads and got to work on a fall quilt. My friend, the very talented Isobel, designed a pattern for a pumpkin quilt block for the monthly lock-in that she so graciously organizes. She meant it for the monthly drawing, but it is so cute that I found myself cutting up every orange and black scrap in the house. Now please understand that I am a "serious" quilter. I use mostly reproduction fabrics and traditional patterns. For me to be swept away by a seasonal pattern really says something for the block.

So far, I have cut and partially assembled 40 blocks. 36 for me and 4 for the drawing. Yeah, I got carried away. Feels so good.