ebb and flow . . .

So do you ever get in a place where you've been sticking to a good blogging regiment, and it's time to blog and you think, "I just can't." Not because of some emotional duress or physical stress. It's just not there.  That was me this weekend. I've been trying to post at least once a week—because I enjoy going back and reading my posts and seeing what I was doing—and any posts beyond that are just a bonus.  The months (and the years) when blog post offerings are slim make me sad (in retrospect), so I try and be diligent about it. And I love Saturday/Sunday posting because of Kathy's "slow stitching" link-up posts. It gives me the extra push to get 'er done, you know?! Anyway, this weekend my "umphh" was lacking.  C'est la vie.

Last week we started a project on our deck . . .

Turning it into a screened room! We're grateful for the help of a dear friend.  Hoping to have it finished by the end of this week.  So exciting!! It'll be nice to be outside but preserved from the mosquitoes.  :)

On Friday the weather was so glorious, Todd and I got out on the boat for a day on the lake.  That's a rare treat in November! 

Really, it was a stunning day.  By late afternoon the clouds started to slowly creep in, which made for a fantastically beautiful sunset.

I couldn't take my eyes (or my camera) off of it . . . I didn't want to miss a single change of hue! 

My captivation paid off.  Check out this cloud formation . . .

Do you see the eagle, flying over the lake?  I was amazed at how long it stayed in that shape ... until it was dark and it couldn't be seen!

Saturday I got up and spent the majority of the day working on the binding of a special quilt . . .

I got to put my new magnifying floor lamp to the test.  I *love* this thing!  I can wear readers, but they bother my nose/sinuses and give me headaches, so I much prefer this new lamp!  It was a big happy!

Got the binding finished up late Sunday afternoon.  Now it's been delivered.  Whew! But I do enjoy stitching up a good length of binding!

After all that pink though, I was seeing pink spots!  It was time to change things up a bit . . .

That'll do it! 

I continue to prep for the season (winter) that I'll be working on my Hospital Sketches blocks in wool.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Even more so with this sweet bundle of wool that just arrived . . .

Aren't those soft, yummy colors?  Hand dyed wool is so pretty!  I got these from a shop called Quilting Acres. Her bundles are terrific!

And finally, who would I be if I didn't include the current Christmas countdown?!

But this time, I'm also going to share a link that came to me via email today.  Lots of fun, hand-crafted ornaments and easy-to-stitch-up things to be found. Now's the time I start thinking about hostess gifts and little things for stitching pals and granddears!  It's from All People Quilt.  Enjoy!

See you Sunday?  LOL!  Your guess is as good as mine.  

:)

what's going on . . .

Don't forget ... tomorrow's the last day to get in on my Declutter Now! book giveaway -- check it out HERE!!  I've really enjoyed reading the comments that have been posted -- and Sherry and Lindon have, too!  :)

I thought I'd successfully kicked the crud . . . but no, it's back.  I think this is going on four or five weeks now!  I'm tired, tired, TIRED of it!  Anyone know a cure?  I'm open to anything!  LOL!

I did have a couple of mailbox happies to brighten my days this week.  First up was this darling little book from Angie, over at A Quilting Reader's Garden.  

She'd e-mailed me and said her first winner never responded and I was second in line, was I interested.  Ummmm, yes!!!  I was even more delighted when I opened the book ... there are some sweet projects in it -- but these two *really* caught my eye:

Aren't they PRECIOUS?!!  I'm a sucker for blue and yellow combinations! Not to mention button embellishments and yo-yo's.  And the daisies are too cute!

Then today I had a little surprise happy waiting for me . . .

A fabric squishy from Sharon over at Vroomans Quilts!  That pink is seriously beautiful.  And check out the flower panel . . .

My mind is whirling from the possibilities!  What a lovely gesture from a lovely lady!  :)

I wish I could say that since my last post I'd wisely spent some time in the quilting bunk room, restoring order. 

As you can see, that's *so* not the case.  In fact, I think it probably looks worse! It rather looks like a fabric store exploded.  I started a basic crazy quilting course (again, compliments of StitchMAP -- I *love* this group) and spent Monday evening (and probably some of Tuesday, too) tossing through my fabric stash bins, trying to find the perfect fabric combinations for my first projects . . .

I finally settled on these three combinations -- after a lot of auditioning (which included wailing and gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair and flinging of fabric).  I think it was worth the angst.  Here's my first block:

Of course, the embellishment part comes on down the line.  For this first part, I just got to insert some lace.  I had this sweet little daisy lace on hand that just kind works perfectly, don't you think?  I can't wait for further embellishing assignments!!

Today I'm headed to Ellie's ... I probably need to stop and buy one of those germ masks.  Because I'm going and snuggling with my baby girl! That's a sure cure for what ails ya' -- hope y'all have a great day, too!

:)

m. i. a. . . .

One would think, for as broad the gap is between my posts, that I'm getting lots and lots done.  Ha.  Between doctor's appointments and dentist appointments and hair appointments and being sick (ongoing sinus issues--literally and figuratively, migraines and some stinkin' virus), I really haven't gotten a whole lot accomplished.  *sigh*  I feel like I've fallen and I can't get up.  LOL!  I need to re-group, get busy, take the bull by the horns, bite the bullet, take the plunge and buckle down.  I.e., get to WORK. I love euphemisms.     

I *did* receive my January swap quilt from Lynn:

Isn't it just the most darling little thing?!?  The Panter clan came over for a visit yesterday evening and Sawyer noted the snowman right away.  He was as charmed by it as I am!  *Thank you, Lynn!*

I finished the top of June's quilt . . .

I'm very pleased with how this turned out.  Kim is too, which makes me even happier!  I need to decide how to quilt it, now.  I'm thinking a loose meander ... all over the white, the pennants and the words.  In a white or invisible thread. Any thoughts?

A group of family (including myself) is participating in an 8-week weight challenge. You get daily points for logging your food, water intake, fruit and veggie intake, contact with another team member, and exercise.  Then at the end of the week, you total up those points and add 10 points per pound you've lost for cumulative points.  

At the end of eight weeks, there are two winners -- the one with the highest number of points and the one with the biggest weight loss. The competitiveness of the challenge makes it interesting -- especially since there are guys participating!  We've just finished week one, so Todd and I just finished week one of another round of South Beach, phase 1.  I celebrated by throwing up.  This has been my January!  On the bright side, my weigh in was a really good one.  Being sick has its advantages.  LOL!

A huge positive coming from the challenge is that I pulled out my walking DVDs and gave 'em a try.  I can do it!!  I have several of the Leslie Sansone DVDs and I was walking the 2 mile walks!

This is the DVD I'm working from right now -- hoping to work up to the three mile walk.  I can't do all the moves; for example, I learned the hard way that my right foot does NOT do side lunges any more, but now that I know that, I can compensate.  I'm just excited to be able to put points in the 'exercise' column! I'd like to eventually order her four mile power walk!  

Yesterday I went to my very first embroiderer's guild meeting. The Huntsville, Alabama chapter of The Embroiderers' Guild of America, Inc. It wasn't actually the meeting, but an instructional meet, where they work on a 'petite project'.  I went with a friend from quilt guild and luckily there was an extra kit prepared, so I got to play.  

This was the finished project.  Isn't it a darling little hedgehog?  The apple is a floss-wrapped bead.  Too cute!

Mine is still in the early stages, as you can see.  The most fascinating part was learning this new stitch, a bullion knot.  It took a couple of tries but I finally got the hang of it.  Fun stuff!  If you're interested in the stitch, Mary Corbet does a nice job of explaining and demonstrating it, on her site, Needle 'n Thread.

I took this picture yesterday, too.

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind mother nature that it's still January. We had our doors and windows open yesterday (into the late night hours) too. Crazy, isn't it? I understand cold weather is on its way.  Ah, the roller coaster ride of weather in North Alabama.  :)

My stash hasn't changed a bit since I last reported ... which was far too long ago. That is, it hadn't changed.  Todd just brought in the mail and look what it contained:

Darling Kate, from Life In Pieces, sent me this fun yardage (five, to be exact) of Buzz Lightyear fabric!!  Isn't it precious?!  She knew I had a raving Buzz Lightyear fan in my family and thought I could put it to good use.  I'll say -- I see several projects from this!  Immediately I though (1) cape, (2) applique pieces for a quilt, and (3) pillow case.  To infinity and beyond!! 

I've been doing a lot of reading.  A LOT of reading. Expect several book reviews coming up in the next week ... especially Declutter Now! by Lindon and Sherry Gareis.  It's been a fabulous read and I can't wait to share with you about it.  I've had several e-conversations with Sherry and she's such a great person!  Yup -- if decluttering is one of those things you 'resolved' (or, if like me, you made goals instead of resolutions) to do in 2013, you definitely want to check out the review (especially since Sherry offered to send a copy of the book to not one, but TWO of my followers)!

That's it for now.  My hair is cut, my teeth are clean and sparkly, my health is getting back on track and so am I.  Whew.  This is hard work, y'all!

:)

sorry i'm so late, but . . .

My car ran out of gas!  No.

My alarm clock didn't go off this morning!  Double no.

Traffic was really bad!  *yawn*

I got pulled over?  Sounds like a personal problem.

The dog ate my homework?!?  Good gravy, that's so fifth grade.

I know, I had to finish a QUILT!  Say what??!

Ummmm, I had to hack a fallen tree in half to clear the driveway??

*ding*ding*ding*  We have a winner!  (Poor Todd -- luckily it was only one tree!)  That was yesterday morning.  We had sustained winds of 20-30 mph overnight ... blustery indeed!  Temps quickly dropped and we had snow flurries throughout the day yesterday, fun!

Some folks will go to any lengths in order to get to 1,000 posts, won't they?  This is 995, by the way . . . !!!

We had a gorgeous visitor on Christmas Day . . . I think perhaps he was one of Santa's that sneaked away for a bit of a well-deserved break . . .

Simply grand.

:)

shake, rattle and roll . . .

Do you ever just feel like if it isn't one thing, it's a dozen?  I know my poor, sweet husband does!

Our washer/dryer machine has been giving us fits over the past week.  Under normal circumstances (i.e., in a sticks and bricks house), that wouldn't be *such* a big deal.  

But in an RV things are just a bit different.  First of all, our machine is in our master bedroom closet.  In the corner.  Gals, I don't know about you, but I hang a LOT of my clothes.  And the hanging space in our [only] closet is less than 4' long -- and Todd and I *share* it. 

It's packed.  And not just on the rod ... but on the precious premium floor space (read, storage space), too!

And in order to get to the washer/dryer, *everything* has to be removed from the closet.  And put someplace else.  In our RV.  And we still have to be able to function.  LOL!  Life has been interesting, to say the least!

So Todd pulled everything out of the closet and pulled the machine out where he could look at it/work on it.  He couldn't find anything so a repairman was called in.  The repairman got delayed, but finally got to the RV ... at 8 p.m.!  He couldn't find anything right off ... so he had to come back the next day.  Finally they figured out that there was a loose wire somewhere and got it hooked back up.

Todd, being the smart man that he is, decided we should run some laundry through it, to make sure it was really fixed, before putting it back into the corner nook of the closet it occupies, and putting everything back into the closet.  So over the weekend, we ran four or five loads . . . everything worked perfectly and we felt confident that it was truly fixed and proceeded to put things back into order.  You have to understand ... in the living space of an RV, it's critical (at least to me) that things stay organized and de-cluttered.  So having a whole closet's worth of clothes and shoes and "stowed things" spread throughout the rest of the RV's space is a little ... style-cramping!  No, not style-cramping ... it's LIFE-cramping!  Hahaha!

From the outside, you can see where the washer/dryer sits (on the left of the picture) and how much room that leaves for clothes.  Harrumph.  You can also see that it's not a deep closet, by any means!

Anyway, things were put back into order, we took a deep breath, and proceeded to go about daily business.  Another couple of loads of laundry included.  Tossed a load in, along with the soap and fabric softener, twisted the dial, and . . .

Nothing.  *sigh*

So, everything AGAIN got pulled from the closet and the machine was pulled out and examined.  The wire that was loose before wasn't loose this time ... it was the timer.  The earliest we could get a new timer shipped to us was today.  Todd ordered the timer and made an appointment for the repairman to come out Thursday to install it.  And as he was putting the cover back on the machine, he heard a steady stream of water ... even though the machine was off.  Aye yi yi!! A leaky gasket? A blown hose?  This may have been the proverbial straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.  You see, this is not the first run-in we've had with our machine ... it's actually the third or fourth we've had in less than three years (we didn't have it installed right away when we went full time).  I've blogged about this before.

He called me on the phone (yes, I had escaped).  Did we really want to keep sinking money into fixing a machine that insisted on breaking down on a regular basis?  He'd done some Internet research and found what he believed to be the best RV/Marine combo machine out there.  A Splendide 2100XC vented washer/dryer:

The Splendide® 2100 saves space, goes from wash to dry automatically, and has an oversized drum that accepts the bigger laundry loads.

It's been shipped.

I've been reading the user's manual and the quick start guide.  I'm really excited! It looks so pretty and fancy . . . 

. . . and it holds up to FIFTEEN pounds of laundry - that's pretty major for a combo machine!  I've also been reading reviews by fulltime RVers.  I think we're getting a premium machine.  Look out dirty clothes!  Plus, this machine is supposed to have a much quieter/smoother spin cycle.  They boast you can even have it run while you're asleep.  WOW!  That's really big.  Our current machine shakes the entire RV like an earthquake when it runs the spin cycle.  Though I have to admit, I might miss my traveling wise men (see point four)! 

Maybe life will get back to normal again someday soon.  In the meantime, I think today may be another 'escape' day.  Right?!

And I've been pondering . . . do I really need all the clothes that are were in my closet???

Tomorrow I get to co-host Favorite Things Thursday!  I *so* hope you'll come back!

:)

into the swing . . .

Todd and I didn't leave the camp yesterday.  It was a lovely day!  The epitome of a fabulous fall day in North Alabama.  I made short work of laundry and unpacking then packed a picnic lunch for the two of us and we headed to the pond . . . 

'Nuff said, right?  It was the perfect day to sit with your feet dangling off the dock, eating a bologna sandwich.  If you click on the last picture, you might be able to make out the two bream that were heading for the piece of bread I'd tossed in to them!

Today we have some things to take care of around and about town.  Baby June could come any day now ... we've rented our house ... our youth girl's SS teacher has moved and so I'm filling in indefinitely . . . life.  :)

Cute little birthday giveaway going on at Emily's Room -- definitely worth checking out -- especially if you're an embroidery enthusiast!

AND ... don't forget to check out the day's participants in the Wicked hop!!  Some fun, fun stuff being shared!

Tuesday, October 23^rd

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Hill Valley Quilter

Fignie - A Geekie Crafty Life

Hot Pink Peonies

Jane's Quilting

Sew Me Something Good

Buzzing And Bumbling

Polkadot Classic

Piece Peace

Selina Quilts

Pigtales And Quilts
Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much?

I hope to play catch up today and tomorrow.  We'll see if I make it!!

:)

a pressing matter . . .

It's another gorgeous, gorgeous day out there.  It feels more like late-September weather than late-August.  It's quite glorious!

I thought I'd invite you into my Home-Sweet-RV for just a bit.

Do you remember in yesterday's post when I mentioned how grateful we were to have a second bathroom -- albeit a half-bathroom -- in our digs?  Thought I'd share about that today, now that it's all successfully (and easily and cheaply) resolved!

First you have to have a little knowledge about RV toilets and how they work.

This is our master bathroom toilet.  Notice there's no tank and no handle.  It's a porcelain potty (for which I've very grateful), but it's worked by that foot pedal, down there on the left.

When you're ready to flush . . .

You step on the pedal and push.  The hole opens up and water comes down the sides of the bowl to rinse it out.

When the bowl is emptied . . .

You put your foot under the pedal and lift up.  This speeds up the water coming into the bowl to refill it.  Keeping water in the bowl is the best barrier between you and the black water tank, if you get my meaning!

Our catastrophe?  Imagine putting you foot on the pedal to flush . . .

And nothing happens.  Or rather, water comes into the bowl -- that part worked fine -- but NOTHING goes out of the bowl!  Aye carumba!

Yikes!!  This happened to us Sunday morning.  Just as we were getting ready to leave for church.  Unfortunately, it was also a day when Todd came home from church and had to turn around and leave to go on shift!  Which meant he couldn't get to it until Monday when he got off shift!  I was so thankful there was a second bathroom -- and that it was just off the room where I spent the majority of my day was an added blessing!

Luckily, instead of having to replace the entire toilet, it was just a matter of finding a screw that had worked itself "unscrewed" and getting it back in it's proper place.  Easy, peasy fix -- matter of minutes.  Whew - we're flush now - wocka, wocka!

More than you wanted to know about RV living?!  Never fear; I'll be back with some quilty stuff tomorrow!

***Edited to add:  Todd read my post today and said, "So, a toilet tutorial."  Yup, that pretty much covers it ... but don't worry -- I promise I won't place it up there on my tutorial's page!***

:)

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.

:)

frosted fabrics . . . they're great!

Ooooh ... a fun happy in the mail . . . 

All that Fairy Frost fabric!  Oh the plans I have for you, my pretties!  But first I will pet you, and unfold and refold you, and gaze on you lovingly. 

Ah yes, fabric is one of my *Favorite Things*!  :)

The rain FINALLY started Tuesday evening and has just been softly but steadily falling ever since.  It's absolutely glorious!!  And with the rain have come much cooler temperatures . . . driving home from church last night I looked down and my car's temp gauge showed 68°F  - we haven't seen temps that low in over a month!  Last night I slept without the a/c running ... just the sound of rain hitting the roof of the RV.  What a wonderful sleeping backdrop!

Before the rains, though, came the winds.  We'd had a little bandit visitor out back, but when the winds came up -- very suddenly -- sent him running to the safety of a tree!

He wasn't sure what it was he'd heard coming -- and he sure couldn't see it.  They are such cute little critters (for the most part and in their proper setting)!

We also had a rather unwelcome visitor at our hummingbird feeder.

She's been parked here for two or three days.  At first she didn't bother the hummingbirds and they didn't both her.  But yesterday we noticed she was very aggressively guarding the feeder and chased off every hummingbird that came in.  Time to take care of that.  I don't know if you can see it or not, but her stinger is quite impressive! Todd will be taking care of it -- not me.

Quiet day today . . . perhaps I'll go dream up something fun for that Fairy Frost fabric!

:)

here and there and everywhere . . .

Meaning this blog post is going to be *all* over the place!

First off ... I need HELP!!!  Not quite a year ago, I blogged about a trip to Knoxville and the AQS show.  We made a little stop in a darling quilt shop -- Mamaw's Thimble.  I blogged about it here.  Anyway, to my total delight, I found some really fun fall fat quarters (say that three times fast), my favorite of which were these two:

I used these for the pillow I just swapped.  I've been really miserly with these two fat quarters because, well, it's all I've got!  I realized I should have gotten more.  I know my love for shiny, metallic-looking fabrics ... but I didn't.  My problem is that neither of the FQs had selvages, so there is absolutely NO information on them.  How do I find more?!?  HELP!!!  Any suggestions would be much appreciated.  Mamaw's Thimble does not have an internet presence, but I have their number and I plan on calling them later today to see if I can get any assistance that way.

Temps are still hot, hot, hot!  We had a group overnight in the camp ... whew!  They sure didn't need their down-filled sleeping bags!  This was yesterday's official high temps for North Alabama.

See how it decreases the further south you go?  Very strange!  Today is supposed to be even warmer!  Glad the RV's a/c is in fine working order!  I'm also glad the humidity is so low -- makes it far more bearable.

In temps like this there's only one thing a glamour girl can do . . .

Head to the pool!!  I think we have an Audrey Hepburn in the making, here!

And my darling, precocious Sawyer has come up with a new trick.  I'm not sure how he figured it out, but figure it out he did.  He's decided though, based on the reactions he gets every time he does it, that's it a worthy trick to keep in his arsenal.  I need to learn to ignore it!  But oh my gosh -- when he got tired of having the camera in his face, this is the look he gave me!

I admit -- I think I squealed a little bit ... my reaction was enough to make him laugh and do it again!

Last but not least, the day after our anniversary, I got a call from the local Christian radio station, WAYfm.  Sometime -- maybe close to our anniversary last year -- I entered our name and wedding date into their weekly anniversary "date night" contest.  It seems we'd won!  I picked up our winnings yesterday . . . 

Dinner for two and two movie tickets!  What fun!!

Stay cool today!

:)