The Witch is in

I saw this pattern on the back of the Keepsake Quilting catalog and just fell in love with it. I made it for my niece, who is well under 5 ft. and the little witch reminded me of her (no, she's not a witch, just short) besides, she loves Halloween. I got it all finished and a friend noticed that I had forgotten the T in Witch. I had to take the top section all off and do it over. Of course, I used fusible stuff for the letters, so couldn't get those off. I remembered having left over letters and just thought I had cut extra! NOT! Anyway, it's going in the mail tomorrow. I hope she loves it. Try to ignore the hands and all of the background stuff. I wanted to get this posted and don't have the time tonight to photoshop it. A photographer, I'm not!

Still no pictures,

I'm still having problems posting pictures so my blog is pretty boring, but these days, I think I'm pretty boring as well. The voice thing is still giving me fits. I lost my voice completely in August, then I got it back, but when I talk more than 5 - 10 minutes, I start sounding like a teenage boy who's voice is changing. Well, I thought I had better go see what's going on and the Dr. says it may be reflux, so he gave me meds (I hate taking pills). If this doesn't remedy it after a month, I have to go get a tube poked down my throat to see what's going on. This doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun, so I hope the meds help. I'm 2 weeks into it and so far, no dice. I still sound horrible. It's funny, but when my voice does this, people assume I'm contagious and start backing away. I have to stop and explain. With all the flu scares, I can't blame people one bit. That brings up a question....have you had your flu shot (s) yet? I work in health care (assisted living) so I get mine tomorrow. I have had them every year except last and have never had much of a reaction other than a sore arm and a slight yucky feeling for a day. I always have it in my right arm as I am right handed and a nurse once told me to have it in the arm you use the most as the more you move your arm, the less chance of soreness and by golly, it works!

I will post my latest projects when I get my ability to do pics back. Till then! Take care.

Ramblings

Fall has arrived in Washington with a bang! It is downright cold in the mornings and evenings and MAY warm up during the day if it feels like it, and it's raining. Well, isn't that what we're all about here in the Northwest? I think so!

I have been in a funk and when I'm like that I have trouble posting. I had this bug where I lost my voice, and my voice is still croaky when I talk much. It's like a pubescent boy where it goes along fine, then a croak. I'm pretty fed up with it. And my other voice, the computer, is still not functioning well either. HRH added a bunch of "updates" to it a while back and now, I can't seem to add pictures to my blog without the dumb thing freezing up. He's done this with every computer we have ever had and I'm pretty upset about it. He only uses the computer very rarely, but he thinks we need all of these updates and they NEVER work right and foul up other things. For some reason, he doesn't learn! By the way, he's a computer programmer so he should know better but once he does "great things" with the thing, he loses interest and doesn't come back to fix things. I will take it in when I get time. AARRGG! So moral of the story, no pictures till it gets fixed.

Have you ever wondered why moods seem to hit us out of the blue? I do. I can go along just fine and one morning I wake up all depressed or out of sorts. One of life's mysteries, I guess.

I finished my batik quilt and it's back from the LA quilter. I still need to bind it. I will either donate that one or the Double Delight to the cystic fibrosis auction in the Spring. I was trying to get it ready for the Fall auction then they cancelled it, so I have time. Now I am trying to do a small applique baby quilt for  co-workers first grandchild who was born early and weighed only 1.6 pounds at birth. It has little chicks hatching out of eggs and is really sweet.

Well, off to work, this is my work weekend and #3 of a 6 day work week. I'm not used to this and am already pretty tired and it's only half over. I hope it's a slow weekend.

Take care, Carline

Life is Busy! Too Busy!

Sorry I have been so negligent in  posting lately, life has been busy and not in a good way!

I haven't done much quilting, but I'm making a surprise Halloween wall hanging I will show a little later. (the recipient may read my blog). I did manage to finish my large batik quilt and send it to the long arm quilter. This one may be donated to a cause close to my heart. I still haven't decided which quilt to donate or since the Fall auction has been  postponed until Spring, I may just make another one. 

Then there has been canning. Our tomatoes have been coming on so fast I can't give enough away and don't want to waste them so, I'm making spaghetti sauce and canning it. It takes about 8 hours for the tomatoes and seasonings to cook down enough. I start with a huge stock pot FULL of peeled tomatoes, onions, celery, parsley, garlic, basil and seasonings and then cook till it is just a little less than 1/2 full. I have to stir it often so, no naps for me. We also got the cider press out, made and canned 100 quarts of apple juice. YUM! We make so much because we like to give it to friends and neighbors.

Yesterday was a work day and I got a call from my son needing to go to the emergency room. It seems like he tore a disc in his back or something similar. He was in a lot of pain. They said they couldn't do too much but did give him steroids, muscle relaxers and tylenol 600 mg. Not much in my not so humble opinion but he is doing better today so I guess I will have to relinquish my medical diploma!

Today, I have to make applesauce and finish canning the pears, give my husband a haircut, go to the bank and do the grocery shopping. Yikes, what a day off huh?

See you in the funny papers as my dad used to say. Have a good one. Carline

Where in the world have I been!

Ok, I give, I haven't been anywhere! It started with losing my voice, then I got sicker than I have been in years. I had this yucky flu like stuff for 11 days and then when I felt better, no energy. But I am feeling a lot better now and I'm ready to roll. I got a quilt top and back done and ready to quilt. I took it to someone Monday and will show a picture when it's done. I also canned (with the help of HRH) 56 jars of apple juice. We haven't even picked the majority of the apples yet. Those were the ones on the ground. The old apple press has been humming.  We like to put a lot of it up because it's so yummy for one and we also like to give a lot away through the year. 

We also made a huge oops with our corn. Remember, we aren't avid gardeners but rather novices. We waited too long to pick the corn and it was tough as a boot. Darn, we hated that. How DO you know when to pick it? Beats me! Anyone reading this know the answer, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

The other big thing in our lives is that son #3, the youngest is back home living with us for a while and it has taken some adjustment. He was disabled in a logging accident about 5 years ago and the employer wasn't paying his workers comp premiums so, no insurance! He had his back covered real well with things in other's names, etc. Long story short, son is in very bad shape and his wife decided she liked someone else, so he's with us until he can sort his life out. He and I are like oil and water a lot of the time. He's a slob, and I hate messes, etc. We are glad we can help him, but it isn't easy to say the least. I just need to get my attitude in order and get on with it!

So...no pictures of this stuff for sure, besides, the computer is rejecting my loading pictures.

What a cheery post, huh? Doesn't life come up and slap you in the face sometimes!

No Voice

Not only no voice, but no computer. Now that should NEVER happen, it's like stripping a girl of every outlet of expression!
Last week I made a trip to Eugene to visit my favorite niece (the only one I keep in contact with because I don't know where the other two are). We had a great time and she made wonderful food and snacks and we laughed a lot but when I woke up the next morning for another round of fun, I found that when I opened my mouth, nothing, and I mean nothing, came out. I had absolutely NO voice at all. I whispered all I could and it about wore me out. I had to go home around noon and I have been mute ever since! I'm about fed up with this, believe me. It has been a week now and a little improvement, but not much. Do you realize that you cannot go to a drive through bank, restuarant, cleaners or anything else. You cannot talk on the phone, yell at the dog or the noisy birds that annoy me early in the morning. NOPE, none of that, plus HRH seems to be enjoying it. Maggie just sits and tilts her head like what kind of game is this anyway, I don't get it.
Anyway, to top it off, my computer is down, thanks to HRH and his many "updates". Everytime he does updates, something doesn't work. I could just scream, Well, no I can't because I DON"T HAVE A VOICE!

Peach jam recipe

Some of you wanted the recipe for the jam made with jello. This is a favorite with all my family and friends and so easy.

5 cups mashed peaches (peeled anyway you like, blanch or just peal)

1 cup crushed pineapple

8 maraschino cherries,chopped

5 cups sugar 

1 large package jello, any flavor you like. Our favorites are raspberry and orange

Combine the first 4 ingredients and bring to a boil, cook for 25 minutes. (use a heavy pan and stir often)

Take off heat and add jello, stir to combine.

Fill jars, wipe around the lid with clean wet cloth. Put lids and rings that have been sitting in hot water on jars and screw tight. Invert jars on towel and let stand for 5 minutes, then set upright. The jam will need to set up for 24 hours or more before it really sets up.

Makes 4 pints

Enjoy

I've been trying to check some things off of my "quilting" to do list this month. I got an extra nudge from Kim at Kim's quilting adventure. One of the things I had to do was finish cleaning my closet and since there was a Quilter's garage sale last week in Battleground at Country Manor, I took advantage of it to sell a few things I needed/wanted to sell. I have more than enough featherweight sewing machines (I bid on them for someone else and ended up with them myself). Just the thing when HRH is so under employed after being laid off from his IT job. well, I sold my favorite white FW, Darn, and my serger that had been used all of 2-3 hours. I got it, then went back to work and couldn't take the lessons on how to use it, so there it sat. Now my piggy bank is a little bit fatter and some of those other things I didn't need, like some fabric, cutter quilts and antique tops that I didn't love have new homes. My closet looks a lot better too. I still have two featherweight's if anyone is interested, e-mail me.

Today, I made two batches of plum jam and bought another box of peaches to make some of the good peach jello jam. This is a very old recipe and everyone who tastes it wants the recipe. Let me know if anyone is interested and I will add it. Of course the peaches aren't ripe enough to make the jam yet so I checked out  Alexander McCalls latest book, Tea time for the Traditionally built. I love his books. So I just may find a comfy book and take a few.

Shopping under the influence

Kim over at Kims big quilting adventure bought a new latex mattress and it pushed me over the edge! Yes, it's all her fault. I went out today and bought a new Carrington latex king sized set. I have been getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night because my back hurts so bad from my super duper, highly over advertised sleep number bed! We went last spring to a boutique hotel (a gift from sis in law) and slept in the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. I proceeded to tear the bedding off to see what kind of bed it was and it was a latex. Well, I used to have one way back when and remember that it was wonderful. (why did I have to have a bigger than queen bed?)

So I jumped off the bridge and in a week will have a new bed and since I am short (5'2") they ordered a lower box springs so I don't have to have a ladder to get in the thing. What a novel idea! I can't wait. And by the way, I went to a camera shop (a dying type business these days, and hard to find) and had them show me how to remove the dreaded date from my pictures. I also got the name of a place in Kansas who develops  Kodachrome film which nobody in the world except them will do.  I have 4 very old rolls of 8mm movie film I want to develop to see if it is anything of any worth. It has to be 25 years old. Probably a waste of money but what the heck. The man at the camera shop said they have enough developing fluid left for about another year then no more so this is my last hurrah! Piddly errand day for sure! Then I bought peaches for making jam this weekend. Now I'm too tired to even cook dinner! Soup from the home canned soup shelf tonight.

Date on Pics

I thought I had the date on of my camera figured out and erased, but low and behold, I'm a techno idiot and now all I have accomplished is to get the date to be 3 years old! Suggestions?? Anyone??

Man of the Corn Or Corny

Our corn is so high I can't believe it. (higher than an elephants eye),  I've never seen corn that high before. I asked HRH to stand by it so I could get a picture then noticed that he had his nerd socks and sandals on and I sure didn't want THAT in a picture so you can see how he remedied the problem and it wasn't by taking the socks off. I do refuse to take him out of the yard dressed like that, however!

Our garden is doing better than ever, I didn't get enough cucumbers or squash planted and we didn't do any root vegetables except three kinds of potatoes, red, yellow and russets because last year the bugs got all of them, or grubs or something. We will have a lot to share with neighbors which we like to do. Our tomatoes have given us three yummy slicers and are loaded with green ones. I tried a new fertilizer this year and swear by it already. I used it on the tomatoes last year and was pleasantly surprised. How is everyone's garden going out there in blog land? I know you southern gals have already been harvesting your bounty probably. 

Lazy Summer Days

What have I been up to? Really, nothing but reading good books. It has been record breaking hot here in the Northwest. Yesterday was 108 degrees. Unheard of around these parts where the natives, like me have webbed feet from the cool rain! We aren't prepared for this kind of heat for the most part and don't know how to function in it. Me? I just read. I found a couple of good Authors/books I'd like to share. Marie Bostwick wrote  A single thread and a thread of truth which I loved so I thought I would try another of hers, River's Edge. Great read and I highly recommend it. The other by one of my favorite authors, Debbie Macomber is the first in the Dakota series and it was also great. The third was a book by Beverly Lewis called the Shunning and I read it in one day!  When I was a little girl, I would read when things were troubling me, if I was sad or lonely as I was often, growing up with siblings who were out of the house when I came along. Mom said when my best friend and I would fight, we'd each take an end of the couch and a book and ignore each other. So reading has been my friend and confidant forever and I love when I can go back and immerse myself in good books. NOW, to find the second book in that Dakota series. I have the third, but have to keep looking for the second one! The library doesn't have it, Darn. 

Back to reality today, I have ripe plums and have to make jam so I have to get my head out of the books and get to work. Grab a good book and enjoy!

The dining fairies aren't with me!

I have to be on somebody's list and I don't mean a Christmas list, either. A few weeks ago, I met some friends at Applebee's for dinner. I sent my "rare" steak back because it was so done, I almost couldn't get the fork in it. When it came back, same thing. The waiter had me cut it in front of him so he could make sure it was good and rare. He even laughed. Everyone else in my party was almost finished eating at this point so I just declined further fixes and asked for a doggy bag to take it home to Maggie. (I hate over done meat)! To make matters worse, the waitress who cleared the table, dropped the entire tray on my lap. Someone had something with red sauce of some kind and it spilled all down the front of me and onto my slacks. (new slacks at that).   To make it right, they gave me two $10.00 gift certificates. (which by the way, didn't even pay for the pants which it turns out were ruined by that awful red stuff).

Fast forward a few weeks, a quilting buddy wanted to meet for lunch and I have these gift certificates so I said let's go to a different Applebee's just to improve my luck from last time.

I ordered a salad, enough for the steak thing! I had eaten about 1/4 of the salad when I bit down on something real hard and broke my tooth. I took the offending "hard thing" out of my mouth and it was a piece of fiesta ware type pottery. Applebee's uses these kinds of plates, the piece in my mouth was red, my plate was purple.  We called management and she was just appalled. She said they had broken a dish in the kitchen and thought they had got it all cleaned up. NOT! Well, I filled out an incident report, didn't make a big deal of it and left. Two days later, the insurance company called and told me to go ahead and go to the dentist, pay for the appointment and THEN, after they see the bill and determine IF it is a valid claim, they will issue a check to me. Such a deal, huh? Not to mention the time to take off work to go to the dentist. I think I am living under a dark cloud  as far as meals out go. SO, next week, to the dentist (I just had my check and clean two days before this fiasco)!  

I should just stay home and quilt, don't you think!

Baby quilt

Another Finish!

My best friend's son and DIL had a baby girl and I finished this quilt for her. I used prints from the Lakehouse line and  cut the letters out of a panel. I was kind of pushed for time so wanted something simple. Grandma is a librarian so I thought the alphabet was appropriate. I was able to find a sweet flannel for the back that has the alphabet on it as well. Lucky find. I tried to get a picture, but the light was wrong and it's too washed out to show the letters. Now back to more UFO's. I'm now working on a batik that I started over a year ago at a WASIQ (Washington State Internet Quilters) retreat. It turned out ok but I had a lot of Oops, intersections that I had to frog stitch and re-sew. That finished, I am now on to the borders. It's a king sized quilt so a handful. I will have my friend at Hattie and Me Quilting do the quilting on "Hattie" her LA machine. She also did the quilting on the baby quilt.

We've had a lazy Sunday, church, then a short nap and dinner with fresh peas and new red potatoes from the garden. Yesterday I picked rhubarb and raspberries and made a pie so nearly the entire dinner was "home grown. We had fish from Costco, so no fishing trip involved.

Blue Ridge Beauty

It's going to be 90 degrees today so I got up early even though it is a day off. I took Miss Maggie for a long walk and enjoyed all the flowers and plants in yards as I walked. I then came home and watered the garden (at least the part HRH didn't have time to do before he left. I picked a few pea pods to munch on, ate a few sweet raspberries and got Maggie soaking wet as she played with the stream of water. We then trimmed her too long ears and  went in for a little blog reading and quilt planning. 

I have been working on  Blue Ridge Beauty, a pattern of Bonnie Hunter's of Quiltville. I found it in Quiltmaker, Jan/Feb 08 and have been collecting blues/creams, cutting and sewing probably since then although it gets slipped in between other projects. Well, 2668 pieces later, 224 blocks are assembled, pinned in bunches of 10 and ready to sew into rows. I am so pleased with how this is going so far. I think I will love it. I won't let myself start the rows, however, until I finish one more UFO. I'm almost finished with a batik top and when I get the back done and ready for the LA quilter, Hattie and Me, I will show a pic.

Do any of you bargain with yourself when it comes to getting things done? I will put a load of laundry in the machine, start the dishwasher (my two favorite slaves) then let myself read blogs or read a chapter of a book I'm reading or quilt. This way, I get to do what I want and accomplish what I must as well.

I'm going to have a relaxing, although productive day. I hope you do to. Make it a good one.

Carline

Old Friends, good vibes

No pics today, but I just had to talk a little about how much old friends mean to me. About 14 years ago, I moved North, up I-5 away from the area I had spent all of my life. I had been close with friends who I went to school and church with since grade school. I felt like a big bird had picked me up in his talons and dropped me in never never land. (I remarried and followed HRH to where he lived). 

Well, I lost track of some of my dearest friends and because of cell phones, couldn't even get phone numbers from our friend, DEX.  Monday, HRH had to travel south for work and I just mentioned that I sure wish I could go to this town and look up Pam, who I missed so much. Surprise of my life when he came home that night and told me that he couldn't find her phone number, but found an address, so he drove way out of the way to go see her and he didn't even know her (had met her one time). Long story short, we had the best phone conversation, catching up on many years, kids, grandkids. ( I probably maxed out my cell minutes) Over our adult life, we have lived within blocks of each other three times, completely by accident. We got married a week apart in the same church, we each had two sons, about the same age. So many things in common. The last time we got together we each took a couch and a quilt and curled up and talked for hours.  I remember my hubby coming in the house and asking why we didn't go do something instead of just "sitting there" It was pure heaven and we were having a ball. Men have no clue about this kind of friendship.  We vowed to grab a quilt and do it again soon, even though we are 150 miles apart.