words and photos . . .

Great news:  I finished my challenge piece! I did work out a solution, but I can't really say what it was until *after* the challenge show (which isn't for another 25 days). I'm dying to share this piece, because I've really loved working on it, from conception to finish (with the exception of that pesky trimming-it-too-short business).  Anyway, it is DONE.  Whew!

Thursday's program with Meg Cox, and yesterday's workshop were fantastic!  She's a fun, quirky speaker and talked about creating 'rituals' to mark special moments or milestones, and how to incorporate quilting into those rituals.  In Friday's workshop, they made word quilts. Here's Meg with hers beautiful piece nearly finished . . .

Joy is her word for the year! I thought that was so awesome, especially since it's a huge part of my life verse (James 1:2-4). I'd have liked to have taken both days, but I could only manage one.  I think, though, if I'd done a word (and I *might* just have time to do one this afternoon), I'd have chosen "HEAL".  Nevertheless, Saturday's group was small but a blast!

We spent the morning pouring through magazines, cutting out pictures and phrases, and then put together vision boards.  

I enjoyed this exercise and am quite pleased with the result!

In the afternoon we made small photo quilts. This was SUCH fun!  I opted to not bring my sewing machine and enjoyed an afternoon of hand piecing my little quilt:

It's my cat Gwenevere, who died in 2009. This girl put the 'cat' in 'cattitude' and she's gone but not forgotten. I've shared this digitized photo of her before; putting in fabric seemed appropriate. It kinda looks like she's peeking through the flowers! I borrowed a friend's machine to put it together, pillowcase style.  Now it just needs to be quilted.  By hand. Today's handwork project, perhaps.

After the workshop was over, a group of us to Meg to dinner (she flew out early this morning) at Greenbrier, a local catfish/bbq establishment that's kinda legendary.  They are known far and wide for their hushpuppies!

It was a lot of fun ... the perfect ending to a great day!

Linking up with Sarah's Feline Friday and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching. Y'all have a great day!

:)

i've got to count it *all*????

My shower got off to a very slow start this morning.  I have a little ritual.  I step into the stall, close the door, turn the shower nozzle off to the side, and turn on the hot water.  Once the water starts to get warm, I turn on the cold, adjust to the perfect temp, and put the shower nozzle back to center.

This morning, when I turned on the hot water, I realized that the pressure was very low.  And the water wasn't all that hot, either.  And when I turned on the cold water, nothing changed.

Uh oh.

Still, I'm the queen of positive thinking, so I went ahead and stuck my head under the . . . so-called running water and pushed on.  Usually the first thing I do is wet and lather up my hair, but as positive as I try to be, I've also got a good dose of reality about me and I chose to get my hair wet, but not soapy.  Common sense definitely paid off.  I was lucky enough to get my face washed (and all my Lever 2000 parts as well) before the water trickled down to a, well, trickle.  By the time I shut off the water, there wasn't more than a drip coming from the shower head.

Sigh.

I'd just brushed my teeth before getting into the shower, so I went back to the sink and tried the water, thinking maybe it was a shower connection problem.  Nothing.

I'd just washed dishes prior to brushing my teeth, so I walked down to the kitchen sink and flipped the handle there, thinking perhaps it was a bathroom connection problem.  Nothing.

Then I panicked.  What if the connection to the RV had come loose or broken and there was inches of water pumping into the RV basement?!?!  (Oh the horror -- that's where my stash of UFO's and quilt kits and batting is stored!!) I ran limped really quickly outside and around to the back to check.  Nothing.

Whew!

Unfortunately, it meant I had to greet my sweet husband this morning, when he came home off shift, with, "Honey, we don't have water."

After checking the breaker to the well pump and checking the connection to the RV, he determined it's the pump.  Great.  Or, worst case scenario, the well is dry. Greater.  LOL!  After a couple of calls, we've got a repairman headed up to the camp this afternoon, so hopefully we'll get it resolved soon.  In the meantime, we keep our fresh water tank filled (for the toilets) and several gallons of water on hand for 'such a time as this' so it's all good.

And at this point, I'm also celebrating the fact that I didn't put a load of laundry in first thing this morning like I'd intended to.  Because if I had, there wouldn't be clean dishes, clean teeth, or a clean Denise, when you get right down to it.  And I suppose it's better that it happened on an innocuous Wednesday than on a weekend ... all our weekends are booked up at the Camp and the well provides all the water.  No water on a weekend wouldn't be good.  *Especially* if it was the weekend we're the venue for a wedding event!  

So I guess I can count this a joy, too.  I can ... I will ... and I am.  It's all good.

:)